BET Awards

Chris Brown and Justin Bieber both showed up to the BET Celebrity basketball game this weekend -- and one of 'em REALLY IMPRESSED with his hoops skills.

Of course, Bieber has been practicing his game like a maniac over the past year -- training in gyms all over the country and even at Lil Wayne's basketball court at his private sports compound.

4:55 PM PT -- Lure tells TMZ ... the club is shocked and saddened by the stabbing -- "which did not take place inside our venue." We're told the attack occurred on the street outside the club. Management says it's cooperating with the LAPD in its investigation.

There was a stabbing last night at a BET Awards pre-party filled with famous rappers ... somebody was seriously injured -- and we got crazy footage as it all was going down.

Law enforcement says a man in his 20s was stabbed inside Lure Nightclub on the dance floor Saturday night after a fight broke out ... and in the video, he's seen laying on the curb waiting for help while a panicked friend yells at cops to hurry the ambulance.

We're told the man was rushed to Cedars-Sinai with two stab wounds in the stomach and he's currently in stable condition.

The party was hosted by rapper Meek Mill ... The Game, Lil Boosie, Mase and actress Kyla Pratt were also there.

So far ... it's unclear why the fight that led to the stabbing broke out.

B. Scott -- the transgender host who went to war with BET -- turned down the network's offer to settle their ongoing lawsuit ... and the gamble could end up costing him 6 figures.

As TMZ first reported, Scott lost his lawsuit against BET after suing for discrimination. He claimed network execs forced him to change into men's clothes at the BET Awards last year.

Losing the case left Scott on the hook for BET's attorney's fees ... which, according to court docs obtained by TMZ, totaled $279,000! But in a letter to Scott, his former employer offered to let him off easy for a mere $15,000 ... IF he promised to drop any appeals.

Scott opted to roll the dice -- he rejected the offer, filed an appeal, and now BET is going after him for the fees again ... demanding at least $150K.

Scott's not backing down, telling us ... "No one will tell me who I should be, how I should present myself, or what I do with my life."

B. Scott and Oprah Winfrey have something in common -- all their life, they had to fight! -- at least that's what Scott says as part of his lawsuit against BET ... claiming he feels like O's character in "The Color Purple."

As TMZ first reported, B. Scott -- an openly gay transgender person -- is suing BET, claiming the network humiliated him during last year's BET Awards by yanking him off the show because he was wearing women's clothes.

Scott says in the deposition -- obtained by TMZ -- before the blow-up he hadn't thought of himself as a transgender person, but during his battle with BET he came to realize that's exactly who he is.

He explains, "I feel like Sofia in 'The Color Purple.' 'All my life I had to fight!' Because of my experience with BET, it led me to the realization that I am transgender because of my gender identity and expression, it was specifically because of my gender and not my sexuality that made me a target."

A man who got shot at a BET Awards after party claims the club -- as well as Viacom and BET -- made a near fatal mistake with security ... and wants them to pay up for it.

Antwon Black claims in a new lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- he attended a party at Compound Nightclub in Atlanta on October 2, 2011 ... the official BET after party.

Black says the club messed up and allowed one of its frequent patrons past security without checking for weapons -- that patron ended up shooting Black in his left leg.

Black is suing the owners of the club, Viacom and BET for failing to keep the club safe.

That party does have a place in hip-hop history -- Diddy allegedly almost came to blows with someone because they were drinking something other than Diddy's Ciroc vodka. T.I. had to take to the mic to calm Diddy down.

Rapper T.I. is the Henry Kissinger of hip hop ... because he's done what seemed like the impossible ... brokering a peace treaty between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy ... TMZ has learned.

You'll recall ... the Ross/Jeezy beef goes way back ... and got nuclear at the BET Hip Hop Awards two years ago when the two rappers tangled backstage and shots were fired in the parking lot.

Sources close to both men tell TMZ those days are gone -- as is the bad blood -- all thanks to T.I., who had a kumbaya moment with Jeezy.

T.I. told us he had a heart-to-heart with Jeezy and got him to see he had taken his eye off the ball. He was focusing on bad blood rather than what was important -- MAKING MONEY.

Jeezy saw the light and Rick ended up seeing things the same way.

Not only did they bury the hatchet, they agreed to work together on a new Ross track.

Follow the money ... and life will be easy Jeezy.

TMZ has obtained some pretty explosive internal emails and texts between BET execs, who candidly admit they ordered a transgender host to change his clothes during its big awards pre-show because he looked like a chick.

B. Scott is suing the network, claiming he was ordered to 86 his flowing blue tunic, black pants, hair, makeup and heels because they wanted him to look more like a man, even though they knew he was a transgender person.

During last year's BET Awards pre-show ... Scott appeared in his garb in the first segment but claims he was then ordered to change his clothes and remove his makeup ... he obliged but was never put back on the air.

BET Music Programming Prez Stephen Hill wrote a pointed email before the show ... "I don't want 'looking like a woman B Scott.' I want tempered B Scott."
Network VP Rhonda Cowan offered help, "I can speak to him about being less 'womanly.'"

BET had a potential public relations disaster on its hands ... because B. Scott went ballistic after being told to change clothes. BET producer Stephanie Hodges wrote an email shortly after the broadcast, confessing, "He got upset and said he was going to blow this s**t up and call GLAAD."

BET has said it "embraces global diversity" and regrets unintentionally offending anyone in the LGBT community.

But we got an email showing the network was far more cunning. It's from BET honcho Monique Ware:

"The spin should be he was late for a live show and subsequently replaced and it would have been awkward in a live show to have the person assuming his role removed and him inserted." It seems she's saying it would be weird for him to come back on the air as a man.

Ware goes on ... "Unless we can make public the reason we didn't want him dressed the way he normally does, I would stay away from suits, suit selections, etc."

In the various email and text exchanges ... BET execs say Scott had been drinking, was unruly, had shown up late, and was wearing garments that were not pre-approved.

We reached out to BET ... so far no word back.

Omarosa's mom got shut down in court -- a judge slammed the door on her attempt to get a restraining order against ex-"Celebrity Apprentice" star Claudia Jordan ... for now.

Theresa Manigault filed her request for the restraining order last week ... just a few days after she and Claudia got into the most ridiculous, and childish fight ever on the BET Awards red carpet.

TMZ broke the story ... Claudia claimed Omarosa's 65-year-old mother punched her in the arm -- while Omarosa claimed Claudia's the one who shoved her mom.

In her court filing, mama Manigault describes the incident this way: "She started to use profanity at me. As I was walking the carpet, she began to be physically aggressive" ... and used "her shoulder to try to knock me off balance."

Mortal combat, right?

Clearly, the judge didn't see any immediate threat because according to the documents ... Mom's request to keep Claudia 20 yards away was denied.

'Celebrity Apprentice' alum Claudia Jordan says Omarosa's mother assaulted her moments ago at the BET Awards ... and claims she has filed a police report, TMZ has learned.

We're told the alleged attack went down at L.A. Live while Claudia was walking the red carpet.

Our sources at the awards show say, Claudia and Omarosa got into a heated verbal exchange -- after Omarosa allegedly called Claudia a "stupid b***h."

The verbal blows didn't stop ... so we're told when Omarosa's mom overheard it ... she walked by and punched Claudia in the arm. We're told event security then rushed in to break the women up and prevented the incident from escalating further.

Claudia then tweeted, "Wow, that awkward moment when you're assaulted on the red carpet."

But Omarosa tells TMZ ... Claudia started it by pushing her 65-year-old mother. And Omarosa says her mom filed her own police report for assault against Claudia. She says, “I am deeply saddened by Claudia Jordan actions at the BET Awards. After all that my family and I been through this year. She should show at least an ounce of decency and respect “

FYI -- Claudia and Omarosa were on "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" together ... and have been known to bash each other in the media.

Specifically Omarosa claims Claudia took pics at Michael Clarke Duncan's funeral (Omarosa's former fiance) which pissed her off. Claudia, in turn, ripped Omarosa, saying she was using the funeral as a press opportunity.

Happy BET Awards everyone.

**WARNING -- THIS VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

A video has surfaced showing rapper Gunplay getting his head slammed into a metal barricade outside the BET Awards Sunday night in Atlanta -- and it appears 50 Cent was part of the violent mob.

The clip shows 50 in the parking lot with his crew -- and out of nowhere, a massive brawl breaks out ... with rapper Gunplay on the receiving end of a ferocious attack.

Gunplay weathered the initial onslaught and managed to fight back, even though he was largely outnumbered.

It's hard to see in the shaky footage if 50 threw a punch -- or got involved at all -- but someone can be heard on camera saying, "That was 50 fighting too!" Gunplay called in to TMZ Live Monday, saying 50 Cent was involved in the action ... but was "hiding behind security."

We reached out to 50 for comment, so far no word back -- but G-Unit rapper Mike Knox (who appears in the clip) said in a radio interview this morning, "The only thing I can tell you is [Gunplay] was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was acting a certain kinda way that he shouldn't have been actin' ... So, he got dealt with ... He got his ass kicked."

Gunplay says he absolutely DID NOT fire a gun at the BET Awards ... but claims he DID beat up a member of 50 Cent's entourage ... and says he wants to "kill" everyone in the G-Unit crew.

Gunplay -- a rapper who's signed to Def Jam -- just called in to TMZ Live to talk about the madness at the BET Awards in Atlanta on Saturday ... where multiple fights broke out behind the scenes.

Gunplay tells us ... he "had to fight off five dudes" who he believes were members of 50 Cent's camp.

Gunplay says things got violent with 50's group because, "I never liked them and always wanted to kick his ass ... and I finally got the opportunity."

The rapper says 50 Cent WAS involved in the action ... but was "hiding behind security." Gunplay says he was trying to "break his f*ckin' neck."

Gunplay says he did manage to beat down one of the guys in 50's entourage -- "kicked one of their fat-asses ... kicked them off in the dirt." Gunplay says cops then rushed in and sprayed him with mase.

Gunplay -- who's friends with Rick Ross -- says his fight had nothing to do with Rick's altercation with Young Jeezy's crew at the BET Awards ... but explains, "We just goin' at it with everybody ... let's go kill 'em all."

The BET Awards brawl between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy took an army of guards to break it up and left a trail of destruction backstage -- and TMZ got the intense footage on tape.

In the video, security can be seen stepping in between the various combatants almost immediately, separating everyone before the fight got out of hand.

A shirtless Rick Ross can be seen yelling before being escorted away from the scene. Whoever Ross was yelling at tried to follow after him, but security stepped in before he could get there.

There was one casualty however -- a random mirror.

50 Cent wasn't too phased after attending the BET Hip Hop awards last night -- despite the 911 calls, alleged back-stage brawls and reported gun shots -- telling TMZ it was just a regular awards show.

We caught up with 50 arriving in NYC directly after attending the awards show in Atlanta. As TMZ previously reported, Atlanta Police were called after a crazy fight allegedly broke out between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy (and a few people reported hearing gunshots). We're also told 50 got into it with a rapper named Gunplay.

But when we ask 50 to explain the craziness surrounding the night's events, he said nothing happened except ... "They gave out awards."

A fight broke out backstage at the BET Hip Hop Awards tonight between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy that resulted in shots being fired .. sources at the awards tell TMZ.

According to our sources, Ross and Jeezy exchanged words backstage and started pushing and shoving each other. We're told BET security and bodyguards for each of the rappers eventually separated the two.

Our sources on the scene say that after the fight had been broken up, a member of Rick Ross' entourage pulled out a gun while in the parking lot and shots were fired.

We're told Jeezy and Ross are still at the awards, which are being taped tonight in Atlanta and air next month.

A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department tells TMZ, "Shortly after 7:15 pm Saturday, a fight broke out in the parking lot at the Atlanta Civic Center (where the BET Awards were being taped) between two groups. Atlanta Police Department officers on scene responded to break up the fight and used OC spray in the process. Individuals fled the scene. There were no arrests or reports of serious injuries. Reports of shots fired appear to be untrue." Our sources maintain shots were fired.

We're also told that 50 Cent got into it with a rapper named Gunplay, a protégé of Rick Ross.

Can't we all just get along?

1:00 PM PT -- Mindless Behavior just apologized for the diss, tweeting, "We meant no disrespect to our girl Lauryn Hill last night, it was a bad joke. We're big fans and hope you're not mad!"

Beyonce wasn't laughing when a boy band DISSED Lauryn Hill at last night's BET Awards ... in fact, Bey was so upset, she changed her acceptance speech (on the fly) to HONOR the former Fugee.

So let's start with The Diss -- Comedian Mike Epps and the group Mindless Behavior were co-presenting the award for Best R&B Artist when Mike jokingly tried to sing.

One of the members of the group quipped, "You sing BAD ... like Lauryn Hill's tax accountant bad."

The diss drew gasps from the crowd ... and pissed off Beyonce, who ultimately WON the award that was being presented.

But TMZ has learned ... B was so upset, she scrapped the speech she had prepared and defended Lauryn's honor instead ... saying, "I want to thank all the talented R&B women that came before me like Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige."

When B walked off stage, there was a woman waiting for her -- possibly a BET handler -- and B began to vent about the insult, saying the Lauryn Hill diss was "disrespectful" and "not cool."

The woman complimented Beyonce for adding Lauryn Hill's name to her acceptance speech ... to which Beyonce replied, "I just felt [the diss] was wrong."