The ‘in memoriam’ segment of the 2020 BET Awards includes Willie Brown, who is alive

Awards programs often receive criticism from celebrities they leave off their “in memoriam” lists. But the 20th BET Awards made waves on Sunday night for a different reason. They praised a San Francisco luminary that is very much alive: former Mayor Willie Brown.

The CBS awards show, which aired virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, paid tribute to the recently deceased black stars when things got confusing. A screenshot of the segment, posted by viewers on Twitter, reads: “Willie Lewis Brown Jr., politician,” complete with his image.

However, this Willie Brown is very much alive at the age of 86. He regularly writes opinion pieces for the San Francisco Chronicle, including one that was published on June 13.

The Willie Brown that BET surely meant to praise was the Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame cornerback who died last year at the age of 78.

It didn’t take long for news of the mistake to reach Brown, as many confused viewers on social media verified the show. KQED journalist Joe Fitzgerald Rodríguez tweeted that he called Brown and responded with his characteristic wit: “I am not going to correct them. Why correct them? I will make sure all my creditors realize it. The debt is canceled.”

As of 8:30 p.m., BET had not posted a correction on its social media channels.

Other segments of the three-hour awards, one of the first award shows to air virtually this year, were smoother. They included a presentation of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” which featured Chuck D., Nas, Black Thought, Rapsody, and YG. In addition, Michelle Obama awarded Beyoncé the humanitarian award.

Greg Keraghosian is editor of the SFGATE home page. Email: [email protected]