CHRISTIAN POST/ Leonardo Blair-
Popular gospel singer and founding pastor of Hill City Church in California, Deitrick Haddon, has criticized BET for giving secular rapper GloRilla the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award at the 2025 BET Awards on Monday, arguing gospel is not her “space.”
The annual award, which was first handed out in 2001 and named after famed gospel singer and television host Bobby Jones, is usually given to an urban contemporary gospel artist based on sales and overall quality of their content. The 25-year-old GloRilla, whose real name is Gloria Hallelujah Woods, received the 2025 award for her song, “Rain Down on Me,” featuring gospel stars Kirk Franklin and Maverick City Music.
Both Franklin and members of Maverick City Music joined the rapper on the stage as she awkwardly accepted the award in a genre she isn’t known for.
“First of all, I want to thank God because this is a gospel award, huh. This my first BET Award, even though I’ve been here three years to get nominated six times. It’s a blessing to get the Gospel Award first because I owe it all to God,” she said in her acceptance speech, revealing that she was initially afraid to ask Franklin to feature on the song because of her reputation as an artist.
She is well-known for her explicit and raunchy rap style and frequently uses strong language about sex and hustling in her music.
“I ain’t going to lie. I was kind of scared to ask him for a feature on this song because y’all know how I be rapping, but I was like, ‘Oh my god’ When he said yes, I was so excited. I had this song in the ball for so long,” she explained. Continue reading…
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