We all have our opinions regarding BET (I certainly do), but one former employee of the company is shedding light on the criticisms and even justifies them.
Andreas Hale was let go as Executive Editor of Music at BET.com on Tuesday and sent an email “to friends, colleagues and those that should know” that quickly spread around the ‘net. In it, Hale explained that when he accepted the position, he needed “365 days to sleep with the enemy and infiltrate the system. One year to see if they REALLY wanted change at BET.”
Hale states that he had always been critical of BET, “but it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take.” He adds that although he was hired to bring about change, he “was systematically shut down. I wasn’t hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced.”
Read the letter in its entirety below:
To friends, colleagues and those that should know,
As of today (September 8, 2009) I am no longer the Executive Editor of Music at BET.com.
Upon entering the position at BET I said that I needed one year to see what really went on inside the belly of the beast. I needed 365 days to sleep with the enemy and infiltrate the system. One year to see if they REALLY wanted change at BET.
As someone who has been critical of BET for many years, it surprised many that I would leave my post at HipHopDX last year to take a position at BET. But it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take. I could no longer be critical of this company without accepting the opportunity to change it when given. Although I was hired to bring about change, I was systematically shut down. I wasn’t hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced.
The truth of the matter is that everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true.
Over the past year I’ve seen a lot to reinforce my position that BET is too far gone in the negative to turn into a positive. We have all always thought the worst, but to actually see it in action is another thing in its entirety. The unprofessionalism, the tom foolery, the favors, the misappropriation of resources, the bad ideas that reinforce negative stereotypes, the emasculation of men, the meetings that break down in full fledged cursing battles, the unpaid overtime, the tears from employees scared for their underpaid and overworked positions and ultimately the unwillingness to change are all harsh realities that I’ve witnessed firsthand.
That is not to say that there aren’t some good people who have sat in the offices of BET. Unfortunately, the good people are not in positions of power to instill any change. Instead, they work their fingers to the bone just to keep their jobs in this harsh economic climate. The other good people ran out of the door as soon as an another employment opportunity presented itself. To say BET was a revolving door would be an understatement.
I came in with a plan to provide balance and to deliver good music to the masses and help make BET relevant again – at least in the dot com world. Those attempts were shut down by out of touch executives who run a dot com but could barely turn on a computer. By those who judge their metrics by page views over absolute unique visitors (that‘s ad sales talk). By those who simply don’t understand the internet.
They brought me in because of my track record but never once took a look at my body of work. If they did, they would have known that I was the pen behind editorials such as “BET’s Coon Picnic” or were aware of the many times I have been critical of their award shows and programming. All they knew is that I played a major role in making a once unknown website into a online media outlet that surpassed theirs and they wanted a piece of the action. Too bad they never researched who I really was.
During my tenure I worked long hours and sometimes succeeded at bringing in decent content to try to reflect the change I wanted to achieve. But it wasn’t without opposition. While some interviews and content initiatives were able to make it through, many others were either shut down or met with ridicule. I offered ideas to incorporate the blog world and to spotlight new talent before MTV did. Those ideas were met with comments such as “This isn’t HipHopDX” or “You don’t know what you are talking about.”
BET is not about the quality of your work. Rather, BET is about the relationships you have with powerful people within the company. BET is not about challenging. Instead, BET is about accepting and saying “yes.” If you have known or followed me over the years, you would know that these are things that simply are not in my character and ultimately resulted in my removal.
For the artists and labels that I have worked with for years, I tried. I did whatever I could to achieve that balance many of us wanted to see happen. To the writers who wanted to writer for BET, I made an attempt but was never given a budget to work with.
Upon my arrival, I was told I would be given a staff. Not true. I had a staff of one to carry out daily operations on a website. I fought tooth and nail to accomplish the minimum (an embeddable player and a site people could navigate) and was constantly brushed off. It was a position that was set up for failure. But I endured as long as I could.
Alas, I have been removed from my position after infiltrating the system and the timing was perfect. I wasn’t let go because the site’s numbers were down. Not because I didn’t work hard. Simply because of a personality clash with an individual whose proverbial ass I didn’t kiss enough. Again, not about the work you do but about the relationships you keep and the sides you take.
I’d like to thank BET for covering the cost of my relocation to bring me to the great city of New York/New Jersey. I’d also like to thank them for putting me in close quarters with people who think like me and will hopefully work with in the near future. I’d also like to thank them for providing me enough controversial content that I observed firsthand and will make for many tales to be told.
I said it and I meant in: One year to either make changes or move on. I left HipHopDX on September 16th 2008. Today is September 8, 2009. Eight days short of a year. Most thought I wouldn’t even last that long. But in that year I’ve had my greatest fears about Black Entertainment Television affirmed.
There is so much wrong with BET that I’d rather not break it down in a single email.
It is pretty good fodder for a book don’t you think?
As of today, Andreas Hale is a free agent.
Shout out to Honey Soul Music for the info.
WOW!! This brotha went through somethings and by looking from the outside in, I can totally relate. I can not wait to read his book.
YOU GO BOY! There is NOTHING more attractive than an intelligent, articulate black man! He doesn’t come across as bitter, but informed, and resolute. AWESOME!
dont blame viacom… blame the puppets that work for bet…. Viacom just cares about ratings… and i agree when you say moguls should start their own channels… but what you fail to realize is that they have tried… and its not easy… i remember when Bill Cosby tried to buy CBS…. three jewish banks came together and outbid him for the channel… not because they wanted it, but because they didnt want a black man to own such a big company… when have you ever heard of a bank buying a network… never…. many have tried but all of them fail….
yeah yeah yeah believe me everybody that has been fired will have something bad to say about the firing employer too. Yo know if you had quit six months ago and sent out this email it would be more believable. But honestly yeah we all know what bet is all about,we see it on tv everyday and honestly u know the drill goes money controls the buisness and if showing ass and potraying black people as dumbasses bring in the money then the moneys gots to flow in and honestly mr andreas was part of that for the last year. And how convenient you are now a free agent, i see u are about getting your money too!!!!!!!!!!!. Like i was telling my friend yesterday i m just happy that we have people like president Obama that paint a different picture for us black people.
—–@Young Funny
—–I don’t know if we agree. I think you think we agree, lol. I have an extremely hard
—–time taking you seriously in regards to your stance on the “deficiencies in black
—–culture”, when you were extolling Jay-Z and his new album a few weeks ago like
—–you’re on his payroll. He’s one of the top witches being used in pop culture to
—–bring the masses closer to Satan. So essentially, you’re a hypocrite. Let me also
—–say that instead of you attempting to speak as if you’re “educated”, when you’ve
—–never shown that you’re aware what the word means, you should addressed me
—–in a mannerly fashion. That way I wouldn’t have to make you understand how silly
—–and simple you are representing yourself. From the first comment you’ve ever
—–directed towards me, you attempted to act as if you were going to “put a black
—–man in his place”, lmao. Lastly, let me say, I don’t have a problem with the
—–sisters. The sisters have a problem with order, and when you have a cog that
—–disdains it’s role in the machine, it must be replaced with a newer, better cog. It’s
—–not even about ya’ll, it’s more about the black man gettting the understanding of
—–who he is and what he’s supposed to do.
Some of yall need to STFU becuz when that white broad wrote the Devil wears Prada book it was okay. She wrote it based of her experience working with some hateful broad in the fashion industry. AND matter in fact it turned into a movie. Stop letting jealousy corrupt ur thoughts. Stay focused on the bigger picture. Blacks need to start standing up about what is infiltrated in their communities via the media. Stop worryin about his book for profit and start brainstorming how to stop the bafoonery of the media. It’s okay for a white man to write a tell-all book but yall pot of crabs stay trying to keep somebody from speaking truth. Oh I forgot…”blacks are afraid of books”. U don’t even know if he would give a percentage to charity for black communication/media students, etc. THINK and stop HATIN
It seems like some of ya’ll on here are mad about what he said becuz u don’t want ur favorite BET show to get cancelled. He has a right to voice his opinion. Why should he just hang his head low and walk out the door? If nobody ever stood up/spoke up for stuff our black asses wouldn’t even be on tv or doing half the stuff we are allowed to do in this country today. As soon as someone stand up, yall black asses want to shut them down. U worst than the white man. But then u complain about BET behind the safety of ur computer screens. This shit is not hurting him u dumb assess, it’s hurting u believe it or not. I bet if Obama said that shit u be all onboard. Yeah I said it!
between watching that station reading this article and watching the episode from the Boondocks I think its clear that yes they doo need a make over badly.
What happened to the the days of Video Soul w/Donnie Simpson, Teen Summit, Live in L.A. w/Tanya Hart, Yolanda Gaskin’s show (forgot the name), etc. Those were the good ole days of BET. I haven’t watched BET in decades. It went downhill after the 80′s. I finally broke down and watched the 2009 BET Awards only because of the “supposed” Mijac tribute. Let’s just say after watching that debacle, it only reiterated my need to never watch BET again.
—–@ONE LOVE
—–I never said that BET was a front for the Machine. If you’re going to try to nitpick,
—–at least read my comment properly. I said it is a front FOR THE DIVISION of the
—–machine involved with pop culture. I use that term “Machine” as a metaphor for
—–the process of enacting the doctrines of Satan. I don’t give BET that much credit
—–to be “THE front” for the machine. Let me help you out, because you are trying to
—–come off as deep and intelligent, and you obviously need a lot of help lol.
—–Satan works through perceived options.This is why he presents you with rich vs.
—–poor, conservative vs. liberal, man vs. woman, etc. Liberal movements and
—–organizations are funded by the elite, and their leaders are coached on how to
—–bring the people more in league with the overall goal, i.e. MLK, Gandhi, etc. In
—–philosophical terms, this doctrine is known as the “Hegelian Dialectic”. It’s the
—–same principle that master masons call “equilibrium” or occultists call “as above/
—–so below”. The notion that you treat the simple masses as children and make
—–them think that they have a mind of their own, when they really don’t. This will
—–make them easier to train and pervert.
—–I think you were al little offended by my comment to Young Funny because you’re
—–another deluded black female feminist robot, lol. Instead of some of you black
—–women trying to attack every black man with a brain to show how educated you
—–think you are, why don’t you read and comprehend first. As an example of how
—–fruitlessly argumentative you are, you laid out the same corporate scheme I laid
—–out in regards to BET’s parent organizations, but I guess you had to show you
—–knew something lmao. If we really want to go there, all these companies are
—–owned by Lloyd’s of London, who as an entity is operated by the Crown, or the
—–13 ruling families. Now let me “digress”, lol. Politics is nothing but theatre, which
—–is why politicians are actors. When they don’t read their lines properly, you are
—–cut from the production. You are not going to change a damn thing, lmao. These
—–people are dealing with trillions on the table. Idealists are the fools that are sent
—–out to keep the people docile and non-rebellious while the elite enact their
—–agendas.
man .. I stopped watching BET years … I mean .. YEARS ago
yeah .. back when Video Soul had Donnie Simpson
and Rap City had Chris Thomas
even when Teen Summit had introduced us to Mya and Alicia Keys
damn … can I even get Midnight Love back? …
I cant even tell you what BET was thinking bringing out College Hill
when all they do is fight
Hell …I have a son and a daughter and most definitely dont want that image of ‘black college life’ is supposed to be like stuck in their heads !!
I can agree w/most who applaud TVOne …
At least I get to see Martin and Good Times
This email he wrote doesnt provide any more info that I didnt already know of
I mean … screw BET …
No one even cares about that network anymore!
if u ask me, i already knew bet was goin to go down da drain wen bobby johnson(i think dis is his name) sold it to deb lee. she dnt even look like she kno wat she doing. B.E.T is mad wack now. tha only show on there worth watch is 106 and park and even on there da host b down playing each other..smh. now they play sista sista, and one on one. basically all of upn trash shit that they threw away a couple years ago. BET needs to get it together.
@Judah, . . .and that is why you take so much time DEFENDING AND PROVING yourself too me and all the other so-called feminist, black male bashers, and robots. Certainly, it isn’t because you’re teaching us anything. All you’ve done is twist your words to distract us from your short-comings and quoted a few archaic wall scratchings. Noone is going to sign on to this BS because we have chosen to believe our own truths from countless histories contrary to what you’ve prescribed to: no lack of intelligence there, only choices. You want me to tell you that you are a black insecure, cripple-minded male who hides behind a blog. Wait, is this Paul Mooney in disguise? LOL, LMAO, ROFLMAO, what is that? Surely my son. As a black woman, I will always be your mother and have power over your destiny. My child, I will let you know when to be a man and when you should silence yourself. Right now, you need to be assertive and less aggressive, if you truly wish to teach. Otherwise, your opinions (no significant truths) are your own and will not be forced down my throat or any other bloggers here.
Go now and do your work as I’ve seen you do it best. Stop getting distracted when you are confronted with opposing views and believe that united we stand.
no surprises here…you can’t let nigglets run anything….maybe they shouldn’t have freed the slaves….
I’m sure he’s speaking the truth on most, if not all, of the issues. That being said, I bet Debra Lee’s annual salary that he got fired for his lack of business acumen, not because he wanted to make change.
Anybody making a dollar on the web knows that page views are more important than unique visitors. That’s not ad alses talk, that’s real money talk.
He sounds like someone who didn’t deserve a staff and probably was in over his head at the gig.
At the end of the day BET’s main goal is to make a profit. They don’t give a flying F**k about you or anyone else as long as there is money comming in.
Honestly, why should they? If people are dumb enough to watch the crap they put out there then……….hey, that’s their problem.
If Walmart had a hardcore porn section would you stop shopping there? Maybe some would, but most wouldn’t ….that’s society.
I wasn’t allowed to watch BET growing up, I’m 19 now and I still choose not to watch it. It’s really that simple. Every time you watch a program on BET you’re endorsing them. Don’t watch their programs. If you have a kids, block the channel.
“Supply and Demand”…as long as people keep watching…………
Who doesn’t know this, BET is a freaking joke and has no form of quality programming. When we as black people have been given the opportunity to make a difference we should grasp it and make the best of it. There are no positive shows depicted on BET. While I understand we are in a period of reality tv, and people love drama, they could at least include some quality shows which they have chosen not to do at all. When BET reaches complete failure, and a white person has ownership, they will then realize their failures.
BET is a horrible network I only watch them for their June award show (which seems like its a tribute to Beyonce every year now) and after what I saw they allowed at this year’s show and that disgrace of a tribute to MJ I’m finished!
TV One is where it’s at!!!
And Bravo, Lifetime, Oxygen, and MTV ….lol why I play so much
I understand where he is coming from (think about it SOME black people don’t want to see another black person come-up or help them out it sounds like he is s very smart man just trying to help out company and the OLD kats want give anybody a chance for new idea’s
This same thing goes on at an HBCU I once worked for. You can work your butt off and no one cares. But, if you kiss the administration’s behind and don’t do any work you will get a raise. Many people are resistant to change they do not understand nor comprehend, whether they have an MBA or PhD. It doesn’t matter how nice you say it or explain it. BET, by the content they repeatedly showcase is not interested in true growth or uplifting material they are interested in catering to any population that will provide income. “Love of money is the root of all evil”.
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Interesting, even though he did confirm all what was true about BET, he had to see first hand. I suggest he create his own TV station and bring back the hope of a Black Entertainment Station!
he isn’t 100% black that is why he wasn’t accepted!! Dummy for thinking he would make it there!