Not since Ricky Martin shook his bon-bons at the Grammy Awards 15 years ago have we been so tingly inside as tonight —though for an admittedly different reason —when 33 couples (including many of whom are same-sex) tied the knot in a mass wedding officiated by — irony alert — Queen Latifah. The engaged twosomes made it legal during a performance by Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and out singer Mary Lambert of their hit equality anthem “Same Love.” Latifah, recently deputized by Los Angeles County to perform the weddings, asked the couples to exchange rings. “We are gathered here to celebrate love and harmony,” Latifah proclaimed.
It’s a staggering accomplishment, and we offer kudos to both CBS and Grammy producers because now everyone who tuned in to see Taylor Swift, Willie Nelson or Kendrick Lamar has now witnessed a same-sex wedding.
And if this wasn’t enough to make our hearts swell, out came none other than Madonna to give the ceremony her official sanction. The Mighty M donned an all-white suit and cowboy hat, looking like heaven’s most androgynous angel (or, according to internet meanies, Colonel Sanders), to sing a version of her classic “Open Your Heart,” arranged in the key of the traditional wedding march, while backed by a gospel choir before joining Lambert for a snippet of “Same Love.” As the couples exited the auditorium, someone tossed a bouquet that was caught by a beaming Katy Perry. It was enough to make even country superstar Keith Urban tear up. Our heads are about to explode from all the wonderful televised gayness.
jimbryant
I just thought this was very gimmicky. Did anyone notice that the camera did not show the male couples kissing?
As for Madonna, she looked like a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and Ma Kettle.
middleagespread
How awesome was that?!! Those couples will have so much to remember from tonight. Congrats!!!!!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
^ more like late Mae West (no bad thing)
kinseyfiles
It was a beautiful production! And quite an accomplishment! I don’t care about the nasty unhappy people who usually negatively comment on here. The important thing about this event for me is that I hope many many young people who are confused , scared and bullied will have seen this and are feeling a bit more encouraged to go on after this show of support! Bravo to all involved.
HirsuteOne
It was a great event, and certainly wouldn’t have even been thought possible two years ago. Equality is moving forward in leaps and bounds.
As far as Madonna, well she didn’t take over the show and make it all about her, but the makeup and the stiff appearance reminded me of the corpses in “Death Becomes Her”.
kinseyfiles
@HirsuteOne: She was injured and probably in pain is why she looked so stiff and had a cane. poor thing. Give her some slack. (lol)
HirsuteOne
@kinseyfiles:
Was she? I was trying to look that up in recent news.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Post-congrats to Queen Latifah’s brave post-Coming Out
jckfmsincty
Suck it, Tea Baggers.
jimbryant
Some of the gay marriages at the Grammys were fake. They were hastily cobbled together for the sake of the show. These couples are not real and were there just for the sake of appearance.
If anything, this farce will give ammo to the Right.
redspyder
@jckfmsincty: Shove it Liberal Douchebags
redspyder
@jckfmsincty: Well, now that we know the players, what was the point?
MK Ultra
OMG that was amazing!
PeterNZ
I’ve been reading hate comments on the Hollywood Report website, masses of them follow the Macklemore/Madonna clip and commentary, with others in agreement. Sickening stuff. Is this site notorious for virulent, ignorant, Jesus-loving bozos?
Mikah
That was very moving.It’s awesome to see the music industry use it’s power and influence to make the world better.
HirsuteOne
Teary eyed Keith Urban:
https://twitter.com/TooFab/status/427658449019613184/photo/1
afrolito
Not a fan of Macklebore, and the ONLY reason I stayed up for this mess, was Madonna. She looked and sounded great, and I’m glad that she didn’t make it all about her either. She was definitely the highlight, and kudos to her for showing up with an injured foot.
jimbryant
A silly stunt from the silly Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Did you also notice that most of the couples were straight? The message was diluted by the homophobia of the Grammys producers.
As for the music industry using its power and influence, LOL. This is the same music industry that has produced only one openly gay American male singer in the Top 10 in 40 years. LOLOLOLOL.
So much for the music industry being gay-friendly….
Tackle
Not a fan of rap, but.I do like” same love”. I have never seen it performed live so I was surprised when I seen Macklemore rapping. I like his style, pitch, and voice much better than Emniem.
Geoff B
I had it on at the bar tonight (I run a straight sports/Irish bar) and thruthfully, I only put it on because it was a slow sports night and my boss wanted it on. I was only really interested in seeing Metallica and was kind of cringing about the mass wedding since I wasn’t looking forward to hearing a bunch of nasty comments from the bar patrons. Heard nothing but positivity except for a comment about Madonna looking like Boss Hogg on Atkins and estrogen (who knew straight guys were so witty?). Learned a lesson about not assuming to worst of people. Maybe Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are a little silly, and maybe it was a “gimmick”, but it was a tasteful event helped by an act in a genre that isn’t particulary known for being gay friendly. I don’t see any ammo for the “religious right” except for their usual assholery. I don’t care to dissect it any further and the naysayers can babble on and on, but In my little corner of the world, this brought a lot of smiles.
martinbakman
I appreciated Paul Williams making a point about the marriages while he was speaking for the album of the year win. Very classy.
Sebizzar
This was beyond amazing!! I couldn’t believe it, we’ve actually made it this far and the fact that I watched this with my family and we were all in awe, I’m surprised I didn’t cry but I was definitely blown away. Historical moment for the Grammys, I will remember this for all my life ?
Congrats to those lucky couples! :’)
DRA
@PeterNZ: Yeah Peter The Hollywood Reporter comments section relating to anything gay is usually rather brutal and surprisingly hateful. I’m not sure which demographic they are supposed to appeal to but for some reason the hardcore Bible thumpers have really taken over there. Every story relating to anything gay over there gets ugly really quick.
Louis
This was beautiful plain and simple.
electrongreen
You know what’s sad, some gays are never happy, no matter how people try, Here an attempt has been made to show the industry’s approval of equal rights, and yet bitchy comments about Madonna and others who have fought for many years for equality, just goes to show maybe Russia has got it right, we certainly can show contempt for those fighting for us, and yet when people fight against us we complain, I say well done to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for putting out such an honest record, Well done to the Grammys for trying, Well done to Madonna for over 30 years of support,and thank you Queen Latifah, and for the stupid idiots out there complaining move to Russia Or Uganda where you’ll get a very different type of support, and maybe even lose you’r life, xxx
queertyreader
I think it was beautiful performance and a powerful message!
Allen D.
@jimbryant: After talking to my friends (the 2 male couples from Utah), I can assure you that you’re full of sh#t. Not surprising coming from you though. Should have noticed your name before clicking “reply”. Oh well, there’s the truth for anyone that might possibly take you seriously.
Franco C.
I thought it was a touching, fitting end to the night. Again, some commenters feel it necessary to make disparaging remarks for reasons I can’t quite understand. When you criticize someone based on their physical appearance you should ask yourself how it would make you feel if someone did the same to you. Set an example, don’t be a lemming. Congratulations to all the couples, many of whom were gay. It was simply moving.
balehead
Queen Latifah’s appearance was 1 step forward two steps back for sure….
HirsuteOne
@Franco C.: @ Electron
Well, if there’s anything worse than a judgmental gay, it’s a preachy one.
HirsuteOne
Does anyone know who these two guys are?
http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef01a3fcaa3a9b970b-pi
B Damion
This was the worst Grammy show in history. A complete noooze fess.
I should have shut off the tv after Beyonce performed.
electrongreen
@B Damion: should have shut off when Beyonce came on
TheNewEnergyDude
In spite of it’s great subject matter, the song is still garbage, I still hate rap, Macklemore is just silly (really, today’s Top 40 and Grammy nominated stuff is mostly just pablum and generic for the masses – however, nice to see Daft Punk’s wins since they’re not as mainstream as a Macklemore, etc…).
That all said, being a couple getting married, having Queen Latifah officiate it and Madonna sing at it? All those couples are going to have a great memory!
*And*…it *is* good to see SO many people see it and be witness to it. All those haters who complain about an “agenda” down their throats…well…if they weren’t hatin, the Grammy’s wouldn’t have to do stuff like this.
It could’ve been worse – CBS could’ve said “screw compromise” and showed all those same sex kisses (they didn’t show any that I saw, anyway). CBS and the Grammy’s tried to appease everyone, and they did an admirable job.
Franco C.
@HirsuteOne: Oh okay. Makes perfect sense.
tookietookie
This is embarrassing and strange. It reminds me of a mix between the Moonies and the Hunger Games.
mz.sam
@Allen D.: Agreed and well said. I, like others have totally ignored these trolls and wacked-up mental masturbators on this site. They have infected this and many sites far too long to be responded to.
Michaelmouse1
@jimbryant: that’s bullshit. The couples were vetted by a selected agency. Anyway who cares? The symbolism is the thing. Why be such a nasty cynic? It was awesome.
Michaelmouse1
@B Damion: and you should have stopped reading this after the first sentence and shouldn’t have wasted your heroic life in commenting like a trailer park cat.
Michaelmouse1
@electrongreen: beautifully said! This was a hugely powerful statement, especially for young kids, and I’m sure will change much homophobic behaviour and help many people feel pride in themselves for the first time. Awesome!
dannyboi2
FYI
From Hollywood reporters site
TonyMontana3 pmill • 2 hours ago
Right wing website called Drudge Report sometimes shares a link to Hollywood Reporter articles sending their fans to read those articles. And the people who read Drudge are very conservative. Drudge also has a lot more traffic than this website. So whenever they link to some HR article there are going to be 100 times more comments.
The people who are running Drudge also know that gay stories are popular. Especially if you’re a christian conservative you’re probably going to click the headline that says something about gays.
jimbryant
The gay couples allowed themselves to be exploited by both Macklemore and Madonna. Doesn’t surprise. Gay men have allowed themselves to be exploited by Madonna for at least 3 decades.
The funniest thing was the “back of the bus” aspect to the weddings. No gay male couple was shown kissing on air. Kissing is a sign of the marriage bond. The mere fact that gay people would agree to being at the back of the bus is cause for concern. It shows that gay men enjoy being exploited.
davincibarnette
@jimbryant: I don’t usually respond to you,, but FUCK OFF you ASSHOLE!! everyone of those couples was profiled in several magazines and were real. If you have such a problem with showing ANY support to the Gay community why the HELL are you here on every FUCKING post day in and day out?? Swiftly go to hell Sir.
jimbryant
Congratulations to the married couples. But to have your nuptials paraded on a faux marriage stunt presided over by Queen Latifah while Madonna sings is pathetic and creepy. Creepy, creepy, creepy.
This will go down in history as one of the worst and most pathetic stunts ever entered into by members of the gay community. It reeked of exploitation from beginning to end.
I know this is going to ruffle feathers but the more you think about how gay men collude with the female attention-seekers of the music industry, the more you realize that gay male sub-culture has become a form of whoredom. Like female prostitutes who seek to show skin, gay men have become textbook cases of “look at me, dammit, look at me…in all my tacky glory”.
manjoguy
@Mikah: “…awesome to see the music industry use it’s power and influence..?” It’s so sad to see how far left Hollywood is, and is using its power and influence to promote the Progressive agenda.
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/watch-madonna-latifah-macklemore-in-grammys-gay-wedding-palooza-20140127/#ixzz2re7NUgLE
ptseti
I have no problem worth who you love or marry but in the middle of a music awards show…SMH….a new low..of prostituting the show for viewership.
hotshot70
Why was Madonna there? She lost relevance years ago after her “MDNA” bomb. GRANDMADONNA needed to coat-tail off Macklemore and Lewis’ hit song, looking like a senile grandmother who got lost finding her seat.
heath0043
@electrongreen: Well said.
TheNewEnergyDude
@hotshot70: Okay…sorry, but I just can’t let this one go…
Madonna didn’t “lose relevance years ago after her MDNA bomb” since it only came out in 2012.
I wouldn’t call a certified gold album a “bomb”
Do you really think that Madonna needs to coat tail off of some goofball rapper who happened to luck out with a song just because it’s coinciding with the same sex marriage debate??? He should feel (and is) lucky and honored that she is performing with him.
Your shallowness and ageism is much too unbecoming biatch. Sorry, but there’s a need for respect here, regardless of what you think of her. Madonna is quite worthy of some if it. Paul McCartney is pretty old too, and I can’t imagine showing him any disrespect either. Because biatch, you’re gonna be older someday, too. Don’t be such a c**t.
Allen D.
@TheNewEnergyDude: Totally agreed. I don’t see why people think their declaration of someone being “over” matters, when there are still millions of others who enjoy what that artist is still producing and putting out there. I kinda wrote her off after “American Life” (which I loved, but didn’t care for its successors until “MDNA”). But, it goes to show why it’s good to have an OPEN mind. She came back in a big way with an album I love.
I’m only 34, but I’ve loved her since ’89. I was old enough, back in the day, to remember her being demonized for supporting the gay community in the midst of AIDS, etc. And I must admit, I got a little teary when she ignored the pain of her foot injury to be there & be a part of the ceremony. It showed her continuing unwavering support of our people.
And I’m glad that she’s still remained too classy to dress herself up in meat or scream like a raving lunatic on a stage in Washington, DC. F*&k Gaga. Not that she’d been mentioned so far, but seriously — f*&k her. And look at the figures — MDNA has done better than Artpop.
Rant over.
AuntieChrist
Most of these award shows have de-evolved into self congratulatory f**k fests and one would be hard pressed to find anything that was not gimmicky…But in the movie Gypsy they sang ya gotta have a gimmick…I don’t like rap but I am old 54 and in gay years that’s like 104…I have been out for 38 years going on 39 longer than most of you bitches have been alive and all I got to say is…RESPECT get some.
that_dude247
Just messy.
sfbeast
Started getting teary eyed as soon as the video started. Just amazing.
LadyL
@dannyboi2: So that explains it–Drudge is basically sending haters to the Hollywood Reporter site to trash whatever it reports. Figures. I wonder how many of the Drudge faithful would stick around if they knew Matt Drudge is gay? Or is that denial?
Spike
Poor Madge, she clearly was not happy that QL had not exited the stage once she took center stage, and talk about serious serious CRINGE when she and Mary Lambert sang together, Madge needs some serious auto-tunning. And when they took their bow, of course Madge had to be in the center, of course.
HirsuteOne
@AuntieChrist:
Good grief, you are a senile old heifer. I support Latifah’s stance and made snarky comments about Madonna. Get over yourself, diva.
DarkZephyr
Does anyone know if there is a way to block jimbryant so that I don’t have to see his pukey comments ever again?