Taraji reacts to Keith Lee dropping her rose at BET Awards: ‘Life really is too short for this behavior’

Veteran actress Taraji P. Henson took to social media to provide details on what caused a mixup involving TikTok food critic Keith Lee at the BET Awards on June 30. Henson, who hosted the awards show, responded to an Instagram post that showed Lee dropping a rose that the 53-year-old handed to him during a segment dedicated to honoring the works of creators.

“Life really is too short for this behavior. He wasn’t in his seat 🤷🏾‍♀️,” commented Henson on the July 2 post. “They give celebrity assigned seats! I rehearsed all damn day to go hit my mark and that young man wasn’t in his seat so HE MISSED HIS MOMENT!”

“His ego is hurt,” she added. “He will be fine. I cleaned it up at the end of the show. 🤷🏾‍♀️ No love lost here.” 

Lee, 27, initially posted the video of him dropping the rose at the show on TikTok. But it was later deleted. Lee dropped the rose after Henson mistook influencer Jordan Howlett for him when she was handing out the flowers during that segment. The Color Purple actress ultimately rendered an apology for the mixup after Howlett made her know Lee was rather seated at a different spot with his wife.

“I got caught up in my own inner monologue, I’m so sorry,” Henson said in reference to the mixup. Lee subsequently accepted the rose after Henson offered it to him.

But not too long after the incident, Lee took to TikTok to share the since-deleted video of him dropping the rose. “Our name will be known in every room it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be, how it’s supposed to be, with no confusion. God is amazing,” the food critic captioned.

Lee subsequently shared another video on July 2 where he explained he was not “upset” with Henson “by any stretch of imagination.” He also said he felt the actress actually “smoked it last night.” 

“I don’t think for one second that Taraji had any ill-will or any ill-intentions behind the situation,” he added. “It is what it is.”

The food critic also touched on the deleted video, explaining that “the reason I did this had nothing to do with Taraji P. Henson.” “The reason I dropped it on the floor is that I wholeheartedly believe it wasn’t my rose,” he said. “That wasn’t my moment. It was given to me, but it wasn’t mine. I always say, I don’t want nothing that wasn’t mine.” 

Lee additionally said he felt the production for that segment seemed “rushed” and “it did not feel intentional or purposeful”, PEOPLE reported. 

“So to take me and my wife out of our seats and put us in different seats, give Taraji no direction to who we are and what we do, felt extremely unprepared and unprofessional to me,” he added. “For this situation to take away from her moment and our moment was unfair to both of us.”   

The 27-year-old, however, said that he’s “forever thankful for every room” that he’s in – irrespective of what happened. “Never once was I upset that Taraji didn’t know who I was,” he reiterated. “I’m always going to be myself, and I’ve always been myself. Nothing about his journey or this ride is going to change me.”