Sean “Diddy” Combs will be hosting the 2022 Billboard Music Awards set to air on Sunday, May 15, in Las Vegas. The music mogul wants rapper Travis Scott to perform, and he’s not taking no for an answer.
In a video posted to his Instagram page on Thursday, May 12, the Bad Boy Records delivered a message for those curious about how things will go down during one of the biggest nights in music.
“I’mma do whatever the f-ck I want to do, whenever however the f-ck I want to do it,” he said. “You know why? Cause I’m the freeiest n-gga in the world, end of discussion,” the music veteran declared. “Meet me at the Billboard Music Awards, OK. May 15, Live from Las Vegas.”
This would be the 31-year-old’s first televised performance since his Astroworld Festival tragedy that resulted in 12 deaths leaving hundreds more injured.
The Billboard host initially announced that the “SICKO MODE” emcee would be performing at the annual music ceremony per his request in a social media post shared on his page on Monday, May 9.
“I made a request. I made on demand. I said, ‘My brother Travis Scott has to perform,’” the 52-year-old revealed. “I’m executive producing, he has to perform,’ and NBC said ‘yes.’ It’s going down Sunday, Travis Scott will be performing … now that’s love.”
Fans appear to be excited for this weekend’s presentation, including television executive Detavio Samuels who wrote, “Setting the standard for what Black freedom looks like.” Another person commented, “That’s what’s up. Give the man a chance to redeem himself. It was a mistake, something hopefully he has learned from.”
Since the tragedy, the rapper has been met with immense backlash, opportunity loss, and billions of dollars in lawsuits. The first night of the rapper’s two-day concert last November in the rapper’s hometown of Houston left dozens of injuries and ten casualties, including a 9-year-old boy. The star offered to pay for the young child’s funeral, but the family declined.
In a recent interview with Revolt, Diddy said, “I am uncanceling the canceled,” before he encouraged others to show the young star empathy. “There will be no canceling on my watch. Love is about forgiveness, … So that was why it was important for me to have Travis Scott perform. It’s going to be a great night,” he added.