BET ‘In Memoriam’ honors California politico Willie Brown. He’s not dead

An “In Memoriam” tribute at the BET Awards on Sunday mistakenly honored retired California politician Willie Brown instead of a former NFL player by the same name, USA Today reports.

Brown, 86, says he laughed off the error.

“I’m not going to correct them. Why correct them?” Brown told KQED reporter Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, according to a Twitter post. “I’m going to make sure all my creditors take notice. The debt is canceled.”

The tribute, which featured a photo of Brown listing him as a politician, was intended to honor NFL Hall of Fame cornerback “Old Man” Willie Brown, who died in October at age 78, NBC News reported.

After serving as the speaker of the California State Assembly for 15 years, Brown won election to two terms as San Francisco’s mayor before leaving office in 2004, according to Britannica.

“I couldn’t figure out why the phone was all lit up,” said Brown, who did not watch the show, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He said his niece phoned to tell him, “If you’re going to die, you’re supposed to tell me.”

Brown said BET had called to profusely apologize, according to the publication. He asked the network not to fire anyone over the mistake.

The error was immediately corrected for replay on the West Coast, NBC News reported.

The BET Awards “In Memoriam” segment also honored Little Richard and Kobe Bryant, among other prominent Black people who have died in the past year, USA Today reported.

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 12:41 PM with the headline "BET ‘In Memoriam’ honors California politico Willie Brown. He’s not dead."