GLAAD Reacts to Early Show’s Decision to Blur Adam Lambert Kiss
November 25, 2009
Yesterday, GLAAD issued a statement applauding CBS for its decision to feature Adam Lambert on The Early Show after Good Morning America cancelled his planned appearance. However, during the broadcast this morning, The Early Show made the decision to blur the image of Adam kissing his keyboardist. In response, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios has issued the following statement:
The Early Show blurred the image of Adam Lambert kissing his male keyboardist
“The Early Show’s decision this morning to blur Adam Lambert’s kiss from the American Music Awards reinforces an unfortunate double standard that is applied to openly gay performers,” said Jarrett Barrios, President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). “I would have hoped CBS would provide the same treatment for images of gay and lesbian people and not create an unfair double standard that treats our community differently. CBS regularly shows kisses throughout every daypart. The kiss was not blurred on ABC nor in news coverage on other networks. While we continue to applaud The Early Show for featuring Adam Lambert today, we have reached out to the show’s producers to express our concerns about their decision and offer ways they can make their coverage of gay and transgender people more fair.”
Related Posts:Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Appearance After Racy AMA Performance
November 24, 2009
On ABC’s Sunday night broadcast of the 2009 American Music Awards, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert gave a show-stopping performance of his lead single “For Your Entertainment,” that ultimately proved to be quite controversial.
Since coming out on the cover of Rolling Stone in June, there’s no denying that Lambert has become the most prominent openly gay music performer of the year. In a show packed with A-List talent such as Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, Kelly Clarkson, and the openly bisexual Lady Gaga, Lambert was chosen for the plum show-closing performance at the AMA’s, a strong testament to America’s anticipation for his debut album, For Your Entertainment, which was released yesterday.
Prior to the show, Lambert promised MTV that his AMA performance would be “sexy” and he certainly delivered. Strutting amongst leather-clad musicians and dancers, Lambert made out with a male keyboardist, danced suggestively with numerous dancers of both genders and simulated oral sex with a male dancer on a leash. The simulated oral sex was censored for the West Coast broadcast, though the rest of the performance was shown in full.
Not surprisingly, the performance sparked the ire of the anti-gay Parent’s Television Council which called on its members to contact ABC and Dick Clark Productions. ABC says they has received 1,500 complaints, though they also say this is only a “moderate” number. It’s unlikely ABC will face any fines from the FCC, which does now allow “indecent material” between the hours of 6-10 PM. Lambert took the stage well after 10 PM.
The fall out continued this morning as ABC’s Good Morning America announced that they had canceled tomorrow’s planned performance by Adam Lambert. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, they said:
“Given his controversial American Music Awards performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning.”
GLAAD has reached out to ABC to voice our concerns. In positive news however, the above Entertainment Weekly article also reports that CBS‘ The Early Show has booked Lambert to appear, as has David Letterman, so be sure to tune in to CBS tomorrow for your Adam Lambert fix!
Related Posts:CBS News Gives Ann Coulter Airtime in the New Year
January 6, 2009
The notoriously provocative author Ann Coulter is back in the mainstream media this week promoting her new book. This time CBS News The Early Show chose to give Coulter a platform to tout her latest work, entitled, Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and their Assault on America.
Although Coulter did non discuss any gay issues during her January 6 appearance on CBS News The Early Show, she did have a tense discussion with host Harry Smith, who before the interview questioned whether he should have invited her on in the first place.
“Ann Coulter is in the studio this morning. She has a brand new book. It’s called Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on America, and in it, she says that I am certifiably insane. Perhaps I am, for having her –- on the program this morning.”
In December Media Matters for America put NBC News on notice about a potential January 6 appearance by Coulter on NBC’s The Today Show. We at GLAAD also called NBC Universal executives with our concerns about Coulter’s past anti-gay defamation on NBC Programs. As Reuters reported yesterday NBC cancelled Coulter’s January 6 appearance due to an apparent scheduling conflict, but seemed to indicate the door is wide open for future appearances by Coulter:
“We’ve had Ann Coulter on ‘Today’ many times, but because of the news in Washington and the Middle East, we decided to cancel her appearance tomorrow,” NBC News said in a statement Monday. “Understanding the media as well as she does, we are sure she knows this happens from time to time. We look forward to welcoming her back in the future.”
We urge NBC, CBS and all mainstream outlets to carefully consider the wide range of inflammatory rhetoric Coulter has spouted over the years including numerous anti-gay outbursts. We applaud Media Matters for America for continually speaking out about Coulter and sharing all of her past vitriolic statements. GLAAD will also continue to hold the media accountable for giving pundits like her a voice to promote intolerance.
