NYTimes.com
By Lola Ogunnaike
August 8, 2005

Sudden Departure of Two V.J.'s Disappoints BET Viewers

The abrupt resignations this week of A. J. Calloway and Free from BET's hit video show "106 and Park" came as a shock to their fans, perhaps more so because the two V.J.'s had established one of the few reliable franchises on the network, which is owned by Viacom. "It came out of left field and caught a lot of people off guard," said Greg Watkins, co-founder of allhiphop.com, a popular music news site, where a petition calling for the return of the V.J.'s has been posted.

Mr. Calloway and Free, whose real name is Marie Wright, have been with the show, a cousin of MTV's video show "Total Request Live," since its inception five years ago, drawing viewers with their sibling-like chemistry. The 6 p.m. weekday broadcasts were seen by an average of 633,000 viewers in July, according to Nielsen Media Research.
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Mr. Calloway suggested that difficult contract negotiations were behind his decision. "It came to a point where there was an unsatisfactory offer," he said, "and it was time to move on and do other things." The relationship between the V.J.'s and upper management had been strained in recent months, Mr. Calloway said, adding that, "there's a new power structure at the network and it seems like they're moving in another direction."

Why Ms. Wright, who moonlights as a rapper, chose to leave is unclear. Through a spokeswoman for BET, she refused an interview request.

It is not the first time that Mr. Calloway has had trouble with BET. Last year, he left the network for nearly three months after working for a year and a half without an established contract. Mr. Calloway, who said he planned to open a vegetarian restaurant in Brooklyn, has not closed himself off to the idea of working with BET again. "You never know," he said.

A rotating cast of V.J.'s has been filling in for Mr. Calloway and Ms. Wright, and the network has declined further comment. "They're going to have a real challenge finding the kind of chemistry A. J. and Free had," said Mr. Watkins. "They had something that you just don't see that often on television."