Sunday night’s BET Awards included former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in an “In Memoriam” tribute segment to the people who died in the past year.
Only one problem: he is very much alive.
Brown, 86, was surprised to receive an avalanche of calls from friends and family that verified his well-being.
“I couldn’t understand why the phone was lit,” Brown said Sunday night. “Finally, my niece called and she was angry, she said, ‘If you’re going to die, you’re supposed to tell me.'”
Screenshots of the broadcast shared on social media showed a photo of a smiling Brown with the caption: “Willie Lewis Brown Jr., politician.” It looked like the network could have mistaken Brown for former Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown, who died in October at age 78.
BET issued a statement Monday morning that the error had been corrected.
“Our deepest apologies go to Willie Lewis Brown Jr., a dedicated public servant for over 30 years, and a former mayor of San Francisco,” company officials said. “The in-memory packet was corrected immediately prior to retransmission, and BET has been in direct contact with Mr. Brown and his family.”
Brown, who writes a weekly column for The Chronicle, said he had not been watching, but heard first from friends on the East Coast, where the awards were issued earlier, and then from a BET executive who “apologized profusely” for the error.
Brown said he was told that BET would correct the segment for its West Coast broadcast. He said he was “surprised” that no one had verified his alleged disappearance, but he generally laughed.
“I also said, ‘Whatever you do, please don’t fire anyone,'” Brown said.
Brown said a friend who had called Sunday had reflected on the reaction generated by the “news” of his death. “I said, ‘That doesn’t mean they take care of me,'” Brown joked. “‘Those are people who owe me money.'” He said the calls had left him somewhat puzzled.
“I said, ‘Let me ask you a question: If you think someone died, why would you call them?'” Brown said. “One of my boys said, ‘Knowing you, I’d call you.'”
Chronicle staff writer Tony Bravo contributed to this report.
Matt Kawahara is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @matthewkawahara
