Looks like ABC is reconsidering its ban on Adam Lambert. Not only will he be a part of Barbara Walters’ annual The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009 on Wednesday night, Lambert will stop by and sing on Thursday’s The View. But because Lambert still cannot be trusted — he might touch his crotch at any moment! — the appearance will be taped. And GLAAD is congratulating itself all the way to the bank.
“ABC has taken a step towards fairness by inviting Adam Lambert to perform on The View,” says GLAAD chief Jarrett Barrios in a statement. “GLAAD has been advocating against the double standards that have been applied to Lambert as an openly gay performer. We thank community members and allies for voicing their concerns with ABC so that entertainers like Adam have the opportunity to be broadcast into living rooms across America.” (Also noted in the GLAAD release: “Earlier today [Friday] GLAAD urged constituents to contact ABC to express disappointment. Throughout the day, GLAAD continued conversations with ABC that began two weeks ago when the network announced the cancellation of Lambert’s performance on Good Morning America following his performance on the American Music Awards.”)
We can already hear the stupidity from Elisabeth Hasselbeck brewing.
UPDATE: We just spoke with one of Barrios’ senior underlings at GLAAD, who tells Queerty “the whole situation has been embarrassing” for the organization. GLAAD “fucked it up … from the beginning” and is now “trying … to cover our ass” with statement after statement. Barrios “is not happy with … how this played out. We’re all sort of just trying to pretend this was successful.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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UPDATE: The interview will be pre-taped because Walters thinks everyone’s afraid of what he’ll do.
EARLIER: How Jarrett Barrios’s Adam Lambert Reaction Assured GLAAD Remains an Absolute Joke
Marcus
My favorite part of this whole ordeal is that it’s helped expose the fact that GLAAD is completely useless as an advocacy organization.
CG
Don’t really know how this turned into a gay rights issue at all.
Lambert wanted to be shocking and get attention, and that’s exactly what he got. ABC being a little affraid of what he might do live on TV is perfectly justifiable based ont he performance he did at the AMAs.
Let’s face it, the kiss wasn’t the shocking part about his performance; no matter who performed (straight, gay, female or male), if they had insinuated oral sex as graphically as Lambert did, the network would be less than happy to invite them to perform again.
Personally don’t find Lambert to be talented at all. The last minute of that performance was entirely out of tune and sounded like a highschool singing competition.
As for Lambert being a gay icon? Sad to know that, knowing he’s one of a kind (as in openly gay), he had to deface the community by reinforcing stereotypes of homosexuals being nothing more than sex-craving individuals, rather than giving an amazing performance that would show America that there is more to gays than such stereotypes!
Cathy
CG I bet you were drooling when Janet grabbed one of her male dancers crotches.
play-the-game
#2 CG Sometimes you have to look past the superficial even when it favors your narrative. Read the link to the other thread this is not about “the performance”.
Personally, I distrust the cutely coordinated “View” announcement. The following is in Mr. Barrios’s inbox.
____________________________________
Dear ABC, GLAAD, RCA,
We’re watching you. Any further castration attempts to strong-arm Adam Lambert into your version of an apology are ill-advised. We may not be sitting in your back room but we know a back room deal when we see one.
Or what, Mr. Barrios? Are you that incredibly incompetant? And you have a law degree?
We expect and demand that The View appearance be legitimate. Not some manipulative attempt to force language that you may naively believe will assuage your Liberty Counsel adversary.
You haven’t seen anything yet, now that the hetero AND homo Lambert supporters have joined forces. You’ll FAIL at your continued attempts to divide us. It’s the first lesson learned from the enlightened honest voice of today’s generation, Adam Lambert.
How do you think his charity of choice raised $225,000 in a month BEFORE most gay supporters even knew about it? You kid yourselves if you think we can’t quickly double that to battle your hypocrisy and disingenuous public statements.
The initial Freedom of Information Act request has been submitted. Proceed accordingly and take some good advice. Rescind ABC’s BLACKBALL and call it a day. Otherwise, you’ll only wish your public relations had just Liberty Counsel to deal with.
GK
CG I think you might check out Joy Behar’s show from last night. The AP entertainment editor said that they had a reporter watching Adam’s AMA rehearsal and she can’t believe that ABC didn’t know what was going on. You heard them hyping “shocking” etc, etc all during the show!! I think you will find that there were 2,000,000 more viewers this year than last. Why? Adam is doing a pretaped show for the View next week only because he has a booking conflict- he is singing at an awards dinner for Steven Speilburg and he has a booking the next night on “Larry King”. You should investigate Pink’s billboard performance on national tv a few years ago. I don’t see anyone talking about that in a negative. Everyone today has a remote control and doesn’t ABC have a seven second delay. I certainly only heard every second work of Emminem bleaped so maybe they liked to use the shocking performance. I think we should evolve and watch if we like or “turn it off” if you don’t. No drama.
lolane
OMG i Adore Adam Lambert but ABC is not homophobic, let him close the show knowing that is openly gay, so abc is not homophobic, adam go too far, is all. but the way i like when adam go too far! 😉 Hot and bad boy!!
linda
why is Gladd taking credit for having it’s members contacting ABC–more like Adam’s 260,751 Twitter followers..plus many more Adam fans world wide
GimmeABreak
Mr. Lambert’s performance was completely unacceptable for national television. The kiss was no big deal, but simulating oral sex on network TV is inappropriate.
alan brickman
what double standards….
romeo
GimmeABreak: Not many agree with you from the looks of things.
Hey, Queerty, what’s with the conspiracy stuff here? Adam actually did have a scheduling conflict. He’ll be dishing with the girls and singing, just like any of their other guests. Besides, that show is always pre-recorded, isn’t it?
Keith KImmel
Nice try, ABC. You must think that being gay is synonymous with being a moron. The Boycott is still on until you say you are sorry AND remove the restrictions. Join the (currently) 696 people who are NOT watching ABC or buying Sponsor’s products until ABC complies.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=184007987035
Keith KImmel
Also, there is this:
Dear ABC,
Please, go fuck yourself.
Thanks,
Keith
Josh
@CG– he already showed America that he could sing without being shocking on American Idol.
Josh
Oh and btw, a reporter from the AP was on Joy Behar’s HLN show on Friday and she said that the simulated oral was in the rehearsal and was approved.
She said it wasn’t as close or enthusiastic in the rehearsal but he still gyrated at the guy’s face (Adam also gyrated at a female dancer’s face).
ABC claimed that the gay kiss and the simulated oral weren’t approved (again an AP reporter said that the simulated oral actually was and I think there is a variety reporter who also said it was a part of the rehearsal)….
But that means his simulation of fingering the female dancer (he was really pulling at a buckle that was strategically placed where her vagina would be) and the female dancer grabbing his crotch WERE APPROVED by ABC.
Also in the rehearsal Adam had caressed Tommy’s face and a male dancers face.
Bottom line– ABC knew it was going to be controversial and outrageous (they billed it that way the entire night).
Adam changed the routine very little (he kissed Tommy and pushed the male dancers face into his crotch).
ABC scapegoated Adam when the backlash happened. There was no reason to cancel his GMA, Jimmy Kimmel, and New Years Rockin Eve scheduled performances.
Ricky
ABC is no stranger to “controversy”. See Pink’s AMA performance in 2005 (I think it was then) where she did a similar oral sex simulation! Really. No joke. Where was all the upraor over that? Oh wait, there wasn’t much… because she’s a woman!
Jackie
I believe Adam was taped for his View appearance becuz of his schedule. I think he is doing Larry King Live later that day. So, don’t understand the “only taped performances” statement. Oh, & if I were gay, I’m not sure I would want GLAAD on my side, since they appeared to have taken a couple of different ones regarding Adam & his AMA performance. I’ll also give ABC another chance only if they reschedule his NYE appearance new years eve & he gets to go on Jimmy Kimmel asap! Otherwise, ABC is just playing nice to get Adams fans off their back, me being one of them!
Attmay
Amoral
Breeder
Channel
GimmeABreak
Whether the simulated oral sex was approved by censors or not – it’s inappropriate. It’s inappropriate for a ‘ro to do it and it’s unacceptable for a ‘mo to do it.
When you have talent and can sing you don’t need to resort to the antics of a high schooler to make your performance memorable.
romeo
@gimmeabreak #17: LOL – how old are you? Are you familiar with the current pop scene at all. The music business is on its ass, and scandal and controversy are the pump primers today. Adam’s album sales shot up after the AMA’s. Even charming Susan Boyle, bless her, is a TRAIN WRECK personally. LOL Everybody knew that Adam’s act was going to be provocative. THAT’S WHAT THEY WANTED! But when a few Christian nutbags got huffy, Adam was thrown under the bus. Except for older free spirits, Adam is for the young.
I’ve said this before. We live in a time when supposedly wise, upstanding mainstream society and its institutions have gotten us into a useless war in Iraq, which has no American benefit, costing thousands of lives and untold billions of taxpayer dollars; presided over the near, and maybe still, collapse of the economic system where the citizens will be denied benefits for decades because the money was given away to the thieves that caused the collapse; And on and on and on. And in large measure the Christian nutbags have propped this failed system up for three decades in order to take over the Republican Party. ALL THE PEOPLE WE COUNTED ON TO BE BIG DEALS AND KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING HAVE FAILED!!! THEY DON’T KNOW THEIR ASS FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND. FUCK’EM
GO ADAM !!!!
romeo
Incidentally, Adam has a nice, and sympathetic write-up in People Magazine, out now, with some of the best pictures of him to date. It’s worth picking up.
Grownup
Hey Romeo: take your princess sparkle pony adoration of Adam Lambert somewhere else. This thread is supposed to be about GLAAD’s missteps, not your overblown defense of Lambert’s vacuous schtick. I think you’d be a better fit over here:
http://www.bopandtigerbeat.com/
romeo
Sit on it, grownup.
Grownup
Wow good comeback, Romeo. Be sure to warm it up for tomorrow morning, when you can probably deploy it sometime between Home Room and Geometry. Until then, sweet dreams sweetheart under your Adam poster.
And people wonder why we aren’t an effective constituency in achieving equality. A popular blog posts some good questions about GLAAD’s effectiveness, and we get people crying their little eyes out over the fact that anyone might not like Adam Lambert. The discussion is about GLAAD’s lack of effectiveness. How much you like Adam Lambert is about as relevant as a discussion over the “relationship” between those two Taylors (another topic on which I’m sure you’re ready to hold forth).
maccallister
adam’s performance waS just fine by me!haha
and its all in the past maybe he wont do something like that again knowing many are shocked by it
romeo
Ooooh, Grownup: Look at the title of this thread, dumbass. I must have touched a nerve with that post. LOL BTW: I’ve already discussed GLAAD’s ineffectiveness on the other threads dealing specifically with that. But I do love it when you get all patronizing.
And incidentally, the reason we don’t get equality is a complicated thing having more to do with an intractable system that is set against us. All in all, I think we’ve done well so far. Just have a ways to go. Care to qualify your OVERBLOWN judgment? LOL
GO ADAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
donnilynne
Romeo , I am one of the older free spirits that you mentioned above. I am a huge fan of Adams. As Jackie mentioned above, if I was gay I sure wouldnt want GLAAD speaking for me. They threw Adam under the bus and are now back paddling but in my opinion the damage has already been done. The word out to mainstreet America is that ABC was correct in boycotting Adam since ‘that gay group said it wasnt because he was gay”. Thanks for listening.
romeo
Hi, Donnilynne. I think that now that Adam is starting to turn up on ABC the whole thing will blow over, at least as a big, big deal. GLAAD has already back pedaled in the media, so I think Adam will be fine.
Besides, most of America just knows that Adam did something naughty on TV. Most of America loves that crap, trust me.
sam
@grownup: romeo is ‘crying’ in response to previous posts in this post. He didn’t start the discussion on whether or not what lambert did is appropriate, someone sle did, so don’t go whining about him discussing a perfectly valid topic.
As for GLAAD…’nuff said
As for ABC: idiots
As for his performance: shockingly sung, like, wow i’ve never heard him so bad, but for chrissake it was 11 aqt night.
Has any US citizen seen the s*it Australia has playing at 9? And we haven’t turned crazy just yet…
terrwill
Simmmer down children!! Adam Lambert is no dummy, his performance was calculated to provide the exact payout he seeked: a huge amount of publicity. I personally think he needs to tone down his over the top vocals but because he had the balls to come out front and center at the beginning of his career, I will support him 100% as the rest of the Gays should.
ABC was cowering like a little bitch because the AFA sent out a mass email blast to its lemmings and they responded in force. Instead of bickering like little children the Gays should figure out a way to mimic what the rightwing-nutbags have been doing for years. They are given a body of text to cut and paste and an address to send it to. Suddenly there are 1500 e-mails expressing “outrage” at a performance that most likely none of the senders had even seen…….. And that is create a way to get an immediate mass email out expressing “outrage” over something. If the Gays could do the same shit everytime a rightwing lunatic spewed poo from their mouths it would make a huge difference………
RomanHans
1. I totally agree with CG. We will only make progress when we show that gays are just like heterosexuals, so we need performers who will get on stage and make dinner or feed the dog. Only then will America realize that yes, we need our rights!
2. Why do people keep commenting on Adam’s singing ability? Like his right to be on TV has something to do with talent? I’ll believe this argument when nobody in America has heard of Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
3. Jackie, thanks for the voice of reason. This “taped” story sounds like more BS tossed onto a thirty-story pile. What, tape-delay won’t work? Because they’ll need to show Adam’s performance to a quorum of rectors and rabbis to determine if it’s truly safe for Americans?
Kevin
It took GLAAD three press releases to figure out the obvious so I’d say they fucked up.
On the pre-taped nature of this, maybe they’ll shoot him from the waist up just to be extra safe.
I think Lambert is talented but it’s his decision as a performer whether he stands there and sings or goes further. If he goes further he should have the right to do what any straight female performer would be allowed to do. Anything less is a double standard and discrimination.
Cam
No. 2 · CG said…
Don’t really know how this turned into a gay rights issue at all.
Lambert wanted to be shocking and get attention, and that’s exactly what he got. ABC being a little affraid of what he might do live on TV is perfectly justifiable based ont he performance he did at the AMAs.
______________________________
Because Janet Jackson did similar during her performance and nobody said a thing about it.
terrwill
No. 32 · Cam: I am sorry, but what planet were you on when Janet Jackson had her “wardrobe malfunction” and “nobody said a thing about it”??
ll
No. 33- They mean her AMA performance. She was behind a dancer rubbing her hands down his side then grabbed his crotch and bent him forward.
Chance
Hey, newsflash folks – this has all been prefabricated for maximum publicity, and all of the other networks, bloggers, boycotters and fans have just fallen straight into ABC’s ratings snare.
“Shocking” AMA performance which breeds more than a week of controversy and talkshow appearances.
Which took place on ABC.
Right before Barbara Walter’s “10 Most Fascinating People of 2009” special.
Featuring Adam Lambert.
On ABC.
ABC isn’t getting upset about moral controversy – they’re drumming up free publicity for what’s now a ‘must see’ interview. You all followed the script, just how ABC wrote it.
Welcome to the corporate network game, thanks for playing.
romeo
Chance: You’re into conspiracy theories, huh? LOL
I’d love it if this was all done to boost Adam’s career. Don’t think so. But it’s all turning out okay, with or without conspiracies.
Actually, I think you give those bozos at ANY corporation too much credit. LOL
Chance
I’m not saying it was done to boost Adam’s career. I’m saying they did it for their own viewership.
It’s not even complicated enough to be a conspiracy. Just some executives playing scandal. It’s not even clever.
We just fell for it, that’s all.
Washingtion Guy
I personally think there is definitely a level of double stander here, how ever I do think the performance crossed the line for what is appropriate on prime time over the air TV. IF it had been cable I would be more upset about all of this. How ever when in order to describe it with out the video it sounds like it should be a scene from a pron video then yes its crossing the line. Rubbing the face of dancer in your crotch like oral sex is definitely over the line.
ABC definitely has a right to be weary of Adam, as he him self admitted nether the kiss or the shoving of a dancer face in his crotch was included in any of the performances. If it had only been the kiss then this would be a clear cut issue of double standards. How ever I have yet to see an on TV performance for a song that included shoving a person head into ones crotch, having one close yes but head into no.
I also think that Adams performance dose not help the image of the gay community, as all it dose is enforce the stereotype that gay men are sex crazed individuals who can not control them selves. It seems like a very over the top and extreme way to respond to cretinism for others that he was not being “gay enough”.
ether way I don’t get his appeal, I don’t think he was a good singer, then again relay if ever (except for the first few seasons) have any one that make it to the top few position in american Idol have any singing talent at all. they only seem to be capable to put on a good show and that is it. I personally think that this was more a stunt by Adam to try to create some buzz to salvage what he know is going to be a very dismal musical carer. (unfortunately for him I can see this backfiring more then helping his career.)