BET Kicks Journalist Out of Conference

BET Kicks Journalist Out of Conference

BET kicked out Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Robin Givhan, from it’s Leading Women Defined conference in Florida. The Washington Post fashion critic published a Q&A with Michelle Obama, which was shunned upon by the network. Reportedly, Givhan was invited by BET, but they demanded she leave after she published her article. They claimed that the former first lady’s remarks were done in a “sacred space”, alluding to the conversation being ‘off the record’.

In the story that Givhan published, she quoted Obama discussing her campaign experiences in 2008:

I couldn’t count on my husband’s campaign to protect me; I had to protect myself.

She also posted Obama’s remarks about her being disappointed initially with her expectations as the first lady.

The garden was a subversive act. You can’t go in with guns blazing until people trust you.

Reportedly, when BET saw the story, she was uninvited to continue in the conference. They also allegedly canceled a panel she was due to moderate. Givhan responded to criticism on social media about the incident.

Despite the conversation being labeled ‘sacred’, BET posted sections of the Obama interview on its website. A BET rep responded to the controversy stating that Givhan was “invited as a guest (not working press) to moderate a fashion panel,” and her travel and hotel were paid for by BET.

She was made aware that it was an intimate conversation in a sacred space of sisterhood and fellowship.

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