Are minors allowed entry at the BET Awards? Rules of the event explored as Tylil is denied access to bring his niece to the show

The 25th BET Awards concluded with Kendrick Lamar replicating his 67th Grammys’ dominance with five wins from 10 nominations.

This year’s edition also garnered attention for a minor controversy on the red carpet when Tylil James was denied entry with his niece, Sage. For those unaware, the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards ceremony is a yearly event that honors Black people from different fields, including music, film, sports, and more.

While tickets for the general audience on a platform like AXS were only available for "18 or above," there aren’t any specific age requirements for invite-only attendees at the BET Awards. However, minors are seemingly not allowed on the red carpet. In Tylil James’ case, he took his niece as a plus-one but wasn’t granted entry on the red carpet because she was a kid.

The streamer was told that anyone under 18 was prohibited because it was apparently illegal due to the presence of liquor on the carpet. Someone from the production team explained to Tylil that only the minors accompanied by the icons, who were getting honored at the ceremony, were allowed.

The ‘BET Next Up: Beats & Bars Contest’ has discrete age restrictions, unlike the BET Awards

The BET Awards don’t have a specified set of published rules on who can or cannot attend the ceremony. At the same time, the BET Hip Hop Awards, another annual event presented by the network, discreetly mentions age restrictions for the “BET Next Up: Beats & Bars Contest.” According to the 2023 rulebook, minors should have their parents’ or legal guardians’ permission:

“If a person is at least eighteen (18) years old and is deemed a minor in their state/jurisdiction of primary residence, that person must have their parent's/legal guardian's permission to enter this Contest.”

Anyone who is 18 at the time of entry (for the contest) and is a legal resident of one of the 50 US states or the District of Columbia is eligible. At the same time, BET specified in the rulebook (for the 2023 edition) that the winner’s designated guest (plus-ones) should be at least 18. The cable channel stated:

“Guest must be of legal age of majority in the jurisdiction of residence (and at least 18) and must sign a liability/publicity release prior to issuance of travel documents.”

Tylil James displayed his disappointment on his livestream after his niece was denied access to the BET Awards red carpet

Many content creators and streamers were in attendance at the 25th Black Entertainment Television Awards. Tylil James, who has over 1.1 million followers on Twitch, was also among the attendees and brought his four-year-old niece, Sage, as his plus-one. However, before he could enter the venue, the streamer was told that minors were not allowed on the red carpet.

Someone from the BET Awards production team was heard telling James on the livestream:

“We have no minor policy, and I let them know that ahead of time, and they asked me about it. [...] There’s liquor on the carpet. We cannot have [her there].”

She also added:

“The only people that got through are icons, for their kids, because they are being honored. We cannot have minors on the carpet.”

During his livestream, Tylil called multiple people, including Kai Cenat, and even got credentials, but to no avail. The streamer had disagreements with the production team and was almost escorted off the venue. James also shared his disappointment towards the favoritism, questioning why the minors with “icons” were allowed but not his niece. Talking to someone, Tylil said:

“I mean, if it’s illegal for kids being on the carpet, in general, I feel like that rule should go for everybody because they said it’s the drinks. [...] That’s the only thing I’m saying. If something is illegal, it should be illegal for everybody. ‘Cause they said it’s a fire hazard, right?”

Tylil James refused to go ahead without his niece and waited for Kai Cenat to arrive at the BET Awards red carpet. Cenat, who was also live streaming, was visibly disappointed and declared (via The Mirror US):

“If they're giving him a hard time. I'm not going.”

As soon as Kai Cenat arrived, he immediately carried Sage and took her to the red carpet with Tylil by his side. “Thetylilshow” streamer later wrote on X:

“They told me NO CHILDREN 🚫 on the red carpet under any circumstances and it’s no way SAGE was getting in. For 2 Hours to go by and KAI & SAGE walked straight in 🤣 im not even mad it was just an eye opener Thank You.”

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Kai Cenat also posed with Sage and Tylil James on the red carpet, which was also captured on livestream. Later during the event, Cenat joined Kevin Hart and Druski on the BET Awards stage.

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