BET's 30 years of missed opportunities

His ex wife comments are interesting, and a bit too late.

I'm one of those folks who holds a grudge against BET. When I was young it was nice seeing videos all day and back then they were decent videos. As I got older I wanted more substance and it just never appeared. I continued watching the current event/news shows until Bob Johnson started his infamous firing jag. You remember how he used to fire anyone who got too big or challenged him? I think BET would have gone down in flames if Bob Johnson had let people know from the get-go that all he cared about was money and not program content. Many people would have never wasted their time watching in the first place. Since the Johnson's no longer own BET the network is trying new programming. I'm not sure if I want to lend my support or not. As far as the 30th anniversary special is concerned I learned my lesson years ago... Anything decent will be repeated multiple times. I'm kind of disappointed that I missed the return of El Debarge. I really hope he does well with his second chance.

I'm right there with you on holding a grudge. But as far as the special goes... from a viewer's standpoint, you're exactly right. But from a business standpoint, heads should have rolled... I'm sure that show had been sold and they probably lost a lot of money. All the promotion time and money had been lost - and from what I understand there was no GOOD reason as to what happened. They are a part of Viacom now, and should know better. Everyone involved should be embarrassed...

Re: El Debarge..me too..hope all works out. After the childhood he and his sibs had.

I'm not a huge El Debarge fan and had no clue of his troubles until you two alluded to them. But I saw this update and wanted to share... [url=http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/el-debarge-squanders-second-chance-with-latest-drug-relapse.php]El DeBarge squanders 'Second Chance' with latest drug relapse[/url]

I was hoping it wasn't El. I caught the end of the report on Tom Joyner and didn't hear who it was. He was an addict for 25 years and should have gone straight to rehab when he got out of jail. With him getting back in the music industry he was going to be around people who want to use him and drugs is usually the tool of choice. I'm glad he made this decision and didn't end up on he street again. Drugs have seriously damaged his entire family. I'm still pulling for him.

What happened during his childhood? I'm out of the loop!! Also, who is Kim?

He came from an abusive background. His father physically or sexually abused the older kids. The abuse stopped after one of Mama Debarge's brothers paid him a visit and set him straight. The damage was done by then... Their mom took a lot of abuse and kind of zoned out on the kids. She was afraid of being left with no skills and 10 kids plus she figured no one would believe her since her DH was CC. I think all the kids had drug problems at one point or another. I was not much of a DeBarge fan but I did like Switch. Bobby DeBarge was the voice of Switch. Mama DeBarge self published a book a few years ago. It covers her marriage which occured during a time when interracial marriages were still illegal in many parts of the country and the trials and tribulations of her many children.

Here's Kem. I really like him. I think he's considered neo soul. [url=http://musicbykem.com/]Music By Kem[/url]

thanks!! That's sad.

I really felt for them after hearing about the Debarge kids' childhood. I listened to the bit of radio news about his relapse.. I am still rooting for him too. His singing was so heart felt. poor thing. I agree he should have gone to rehab, jumping back in is too much major stress. It was a good time to discuss with my boys in the car how drugs can be detrimental to a person.