So, this happened at last night’s Grammy Awards telecast:
The people’s champ appeared on “Music’s Biggest Night” during a pre-taped sketch that had host James Corden holding spoken-word auditions for Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff’s bestselling book (novel?) about the chaotic Trump administration.
There was Cher discussing Trump’s Just for Men-style “combover”; Snoop Dogg reading a passage on Trump’s inauguration, assuring the audience he was not in attendance; Cardi B hilariously going over how Trump goes to bed “with a cheeseburger,” adding, “I can’t believe this! This is how he really lives his life?!” And then, last but not least, Corden brought on Trump’s Democratic opponent, Clinton.
“He had a longtime fear of being poisoned—one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald’s: Nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made,” read the would-be commander in chief.
She then turned to Corden and said, “The Grammy’s in the bag?”
As Corden noted, the bit received perhaps the biggest cheer of the night—unsurprising, given how the Grammys were held in the heart of Manhattan at Madison Square Garden, a borough that voted overwhelmingly in favor of Clinton despite Trump calling it home.
While I’m not a fan of either of the major 2016 candidates, my preference for Clinton over Trump was clear. And that’s only grown since the election. Still, it’s not only unseemly for the losing candidate to continue taking shots at the winner (albeit not as much as the winner continuing to take shots at the loser) but it seems incredibly self-defeating for the Grammys to consciously alienate half the country by organizing a political stunt that has nothing to do with music. It’s hardly a shock that Cher and Snoop Dogg–indeed, the vast majority of the entertainment industry—hold Trump in disdain. But, surely, there’s enough for the music industry to celebrate to make it through an awards show without this sort of nonsense?
UPDATE: There are certainly times when these sort of events can’t escape being political. The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks comes to mind. Or even the post-Weinstein/#MeToo moment at this year’s Academy Awards. In those instances, it would be weird not to acknowledge the elephant in the room. But there’s no obvious tie between Trump, Wolff, and the music industry.
