Grammy-nominated rapper Wale had a tense exchange with Twitch sensation Kai Cenat at the 2025 BET Awards, all thanks to a live-streamed fumble that left Wale feeling slighted and fans reeling. Cenat, whose real-time IRL streams have made him a favorite among Gen Z and beyond, was going through the BET Awards venue on Monday night (June 9), casually vibing with fans and celebs. But as he crossed paths with Wale, things turned toward the awkward.
"Wale. Oh my god, that was somebody crazy," Cenat muttered after the brief encounter, clearly not recognizing the D.C. rapper on the spot. "Hey, the whole chat knows him. Wale, what he do?"
The clip exploded across social media within hours. While many viewers chalked it up to a harmless generational slip-up, Wale wasn't having it.
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Later that evening, during another segment of Cenat's live stream, this time mid-convo with Snoop Dogg, Wale walked up and directly addressed the now-viral hallway moment.
"That s### making me look crazy right now," Wale told Cenat, his tone cool but pointed. "Just letting you know. That's making me look crazy, the exchange that we had in the hallway?"
Caught off guard, Cenat quickly offered a surprise. "Oh! My bad." But Wale, clearly not done processing the incident, added with frustration, "I mean, they're running with it; we'll talk later."
Social media lit up with takes, memes, and mixed opinions. One user tweeted, "He just made it 10x worse, lol," while another added, "Grown ass man worried about what the internet thinks about him." A third chimed in with a little tough love: "Bro, nobody was even talking about it. He brought attention to it again because his ego got hurt."
While the face-off was just a brief blip during an otherwise celebratory night, it highlighted a growing generational divide between traditional artists and rising digital creators. Cenat, who also presented an award alongside fellow content king Druski thanks to host Kevin Hart, is part of a new wave of influencers bringing chaotic energy and unfiltered content to legacy platforms.
And speaking of chaos, Cenat's time on stage didn't end without another eyebrow-raising moment. After casually thanking Hart with, "Appreciate you, n####," the veteran comedian took the chance to give him a humorous but pointed lesson in award show etiquette.
"I tried to bring y'all out here and give y'all an opportunity to get to the next stage," Hart quipped. "To do that, you need to understand professionalism."
Welcome to the intersection of culture, content, and clout. Where the streams are live, the egos are fragile, and the internet never forgets.
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