(AllHipHop News) When an artist receives a dozen award show nominations that is usually a guarantee that the audience will get to see that person at the event. That was not the case for Drake who was nominated 12 times at this year’s BET Awards.
While most of the stars arriving on the red carpet were not even sure who was scheduled to perform at the show, there was talk that Drake had planned to attend and perform, but when the lights went up the Young Money rapper was not at the Nokia Theatre.
Rumors began to circulate that Drake pulled out of the show at the last-minute because the “Started From The Bottom” performer wanted to avoid R&B singer Chris Brown. Brown and Drake have had a very public feud over the last year after the two were engaged in a bottle throwing incident at a New York City night club.
[ALSO READ: Drake Discusses Chris Brown Feud In GQ Magazine]
Drake took to Twitter to clear up the matter. He announced that his absence from the awards show was the result of him wanting to focus on his music and his family.
Thank you to BET and to the fans for voting! I’m home finishing the album and spending time w/ family before we begin our journey Sept 17.
— Drizzy (@Drake) July 1, 2013
Radaronline reportedly had sources reveal that Drake’s decision not to attend threw off the show with producers scrambling to figure out how to replace him.
“Everything is in flux,” claimed Radaronline’s source. “The producers are all pulling their hair out.”
There were obvious moments during the broadcast when the show’s host Chris Tucker had to fill in time with him even asking producers on camera if they were ready to move on. Representatives from BET have not commented on the record about Drake not attending the show as of yet.
[ALSO READ: BET Awards 2013: Full Performances & Complete Winners List]