The former colleagues have been at each other’s throats for a while, and it culminated in a heated moment at this year’s BET Awards.
Lemuel Plummer, CEO of Zeus Network, and Ray J found themselves in a tense faceoff when they ran into each during GloRilla’s BET Awards afterparty.
During the tense confrontation, the two entrepreneurs are several feet from one another with many security guards in between them. At one point, they were face to face before being separated by the security guards. Ray J later walks away to retrieve a backpack, walking back to the crowd and causing a slight panic. He ultimately makes it back into a white car.
Ray J took to his Instagram story to detail the “hurtful” experience, noting that was denied re-entry into the award ceremony.
“The s-t that happened tonight to me at the awards today was hurtful,” Ray J said. “I’m working backstage and then I go take a break in the back and BET wouldn’t let me back in for some reason — I don’t know who they didn’t want me to see, it was weird.”
Later in the post, the R&B singer notes that “they” paid him to keep quiet, though it’s unclear who “they” is. Ray J said the situation made him suicidal while the “perception of reality” made him uncomfortable.
Footage obtained by TMZ shows the aftermath of the singer turned reality star being denied re-entry into the event. In the video, a fan asks Ray J for a photo and he proceeds to explain what’s happening.
He is later seen without his shirt, stating: “I didn’t bring ghetto to BET yet, but I am about to.”
He then exclaimed that he was “sad as f-k,” and proceeded to speak with those around him. According to TMZ, sources say he went out of the venue about 15 times — oftentimes without his credentials. The security guard at the entrance of the venue finally took issue with Ray J not wearing his credentials, noting that he’s been doing it all night.
The incident happened during one of the three events Ray J hosted throughout the weekend, this one being a backstage access show for BET Digital.
Ray J’s tense moment with security may have been started at the door of the venue, but his scuffle with Lemuel Plummer stems from prior buildup on social media. The “Sexy Can I” singer had previously posted footage of someone repeatedly hitting Plummer in a parking lot as well as alleged text messages where the Zeus Network CEO cops to disrespecting women.
The text messages were between Antonio Ward and Plummer, according to Ray J. Ward previously worked as the VP of Media Development for Plummer’s media company, L Plummer Media. In a video posted to his social media, Ray J said that Ward told Plummer to stop disrespecting his wife.
“I would never disrespect anybody that you know, but you blatantly disrespect women all the time. I’m not cut from [that] cloth,” Ward said in a message to Plummer.
Plummer responded that she, Ward’s wife, should have “shut the hell up and sit down somewhere.” He later said that he disrespects women “all the time,” ending the message with a thumbs up emoji.
Ray J included the security footage of Ward hitting Plummer in a parking lot, presumably as the result of the text message exchange. Plummer responded to the singer’s video by posting an Instagram story.
“We get the marketing stunts you’re trying to pull for your network,” Plummer said. “Consider this my first and final response. We wish you nothing but the best.”
Plummer ended the post by stating that those who are unhappy with themselves tend to create problems with everyone around them. Ray J went as far to refer to Plummer as “a Black Jeffrey Epstein.” The “Bad Girl All Star Battle” host accused the Zeus Network CEO of manipulating women and putting them in compromising situations just so they can secure a spot on Zeus Network’s shows.
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club, he stood behind these claims and denied using these claims to promote his own network, Tronix Network.
“That would be foul, that would be inhumane,” he said. “These are facts. I have the footage. I have a lot of stuff that he’s been doing. Now, it’s time to do what we’re doing now, and that’s legally do the right thing.”
The duo first worked with one another in 2020 when Ray J and his ex-wife, Princess Love, produced a reality show, “The Conversation,” for Zeus Network. The show would bring together feuding reality television stars in an attempt to smooth out their differences.
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