BET slammed for tweet mocking Dr. Luke rape allegations

BET infuriated the Twittersphere Friday after its reporting on the latest news around Kesha’s rape allegations against music producer Dr. Luke — that she had once accused him of raping Katy Perry — was tweeted out with a caption that can only be described as terrible.

Users were quick to criticize BET for the tweet, which read, “Hide ya wife, hide ya kids, they raping er’body here! ALLEGEDLY!” Seriously. BET (of course) deleted the tweet, which had been attached to a BET Breaks video giving a roundup of the news, as soon as it began making waves on social media. The network also apologized in a statement issued to EW: “BET Networks does not condone language that makes light of sexual assault. This post should never have been written and we apologize for the post. We have deleted the tweet and are conducting an internal investigation of this serious matter.”

https://twitter.com/BET/status/1007409106074808320/video/1

But nothing is ever really gone from the internet (in the words of one user, “you know that screenshots are life”), and responses have been pouring in since shortly after the tweet went up, running the gamut from abject fury to outright confusion.

The patent immaturity of discussing an ongoing legal case in terms of a 2010 viral video interview aside, some users specifically blasted BET for seemingly downplaying the severity of the new allegations against Dr. Luke, who has been embroiled in a legal battle with Kesha since 2014, when the singer sought to be released from her contract with the producer after going public with claims he abused her. “This headline is disgusting,” wrote one. “Sexual assault is not a joke.”

Separately, many have used today’s tweet to take BET to task for slotting Jamie Foxx to host the upcoming BET Awards. The Ray actor is currently in the news after the Las Vegas Police Department stated it is investigating an accusation that he slapped a slapped a woman in the face with his penis after she refused to perform oral sex on him. “To make a jokey video about Kesha being raped, when the host of your OWN awards (Jamie Foxx) show is facing allegations…might not be the best move this ailing network has ever made,” one user wrote, putting it lightly, then adding (less lightly): “Y’all are dumb af.”

Foxx and his lawyer have denied the claim. “Jamie Foxx emphatically denies that this incident ever occurred, and he will be filing a report with the Las Vegas Police Department against the woman for filing a false police report against him,” said the attorney in a statement to PEOPLE. “The first time Mr. Foxx became aware of this woman’s absurd claims about an incident that supposedly occurred sixteen years ago was when TMZ contacted his representatives today about this story.”