Rick Ross and Young Jeezy involved in BET awards brawl

Saturday night’s taping of the BET Hip-Hop Awards (not to be confused with the BET Awards, which aired two months ago) went from sentimental to chaotic in an instant. A heartfelt tribute to late hip-hop impresario Chris Lighty transitioned into an ugly brawl between entourages representing rappers Rick Ross and Young Jeezy.

Late Saturday night, a conflict erupted between Ross and Jeezy backstage at the Atlanta Civic Center. “Jeezy and Rick Ross just had words backstage!! Pushing and shoving,” tweeted legendary New York DJ Funkmaster Flex following the initial incident.

According to a police report obtained by TMZ, the conflict continued into the parking lot of the Civic Center, and police were called. The Atlanta cops dispersed the crowd using pepper spray, and no arrests were made.

There were initial reports of shots fired during the melee, though Atlanta police deny that any guns went off. Ross protege Gunplay was also involved in the dispute, and though he was detained by police for questioning, he was not arrested.

On Sunday morning, BET released a statement that said, “BET Networks works very hard to bring the best in entertainment to the city of Atlanta. For the past seven years BET has celebrated the true art form of hip-hop. Due to some misjudgment of select attendees, it is unfortunate that certain incidents took place. BET Networks does not condone any type of violence. Local authorities are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”

The awards, which were hosted by Mike Epps, will air on Oct. 9 on BET.

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