Drama at BET. Andreas Hale, a hip-hop editor at BET.com has left and publicly dissed the company in a letter that was circulated via e-mail on Tuesday. In it, Andreas Hale said that “everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true. I have been really critical of BET on many levels for a long time. It is a real shame that everything about BET’s model is just plain wrong and it perpetuates the negative stereotypes African Americans have been confronted with for eons.

“As someone who has been critical of BET for many years, it surprised many that I would leave my post at HipHopDX last year to take a position at BET,” Hale wrote. “But it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take. I could no longer be critical of this company without accepting the opportunity to change it when given. Although I was hired to bring about change, I was systematically shut down. I wasn’t hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced.”

“We have all always thought the worst, but to actually see it in action is another thing in its entirety,” he continued. “The unprofessionalism, the tom foolery, the favors, the misappropriation of resources, the bad ideas that reinforce negative stereotypes, the emasculation of men, the meetings that break down in full fledged cursing battles, the unpaid overtime, the tears from employees scared for their underpaid and overworked positions and ultimately the unwillingness to change are all harsh realities that I’ve witnessed firsthand,” Hale wrote.

“Alas, I have been removed from my position after infiltrating the system and the timing was perfect. I wasn’t let go because the site’s numbers were down. Not because I didn’t work hard. Simply because of a personality clash with an individual whose proverbial ass I didn’t kiss enough. Again, not about the work you do but about the relationships you keep and the sides you take.” Source: Journal-isms

After watching the BET Awards tribute to Michael Jackson and coming away in disgust, I vowed never to turn to that channel on my television again. BET is in a great position to effect positive change on many young black men and women, but instead, Viacom Inc. doesn’t seem to care one iota about the image it is portraying.