Awards season is in full swing, kicking off with the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night. But this year, the devastating wildfires across Southern California and President Donald Trump’s slew of unsettling executive orders set a different tone throughout the ceremony.
Honorees and hosts often find ways to deliver political messages during awards shows, and the Grammys were no different.
“There’s been a few changes in Washington. So I’m gonna enjoy tonight because this may be my last time I get to host anything in this country,” host Trevor Noah said in an apparent reference to Trump’s ongoing war on civil rights.
Host Trevor Noah speaking at the Grammy Awards.
But he could also be referencing Trump’s executive order that ended the law prohibiting employers from discriminating against potential employees based on characteristics such as race or sex.
Later in the evening, rising LGBTQ+ pop icon Chappell Roan—who took home a Grammy for Best New Artist—also had a politically progressive message to share.
“I told myself if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists,” she said. “Labels, we got you. But do you got us?”
Roan’s message of unnecessary resilience while the wealthy elite profit off of the masses is an ongoing storyline in the current administration.
But before she stepped on stage, Roan spoke with GLAAD about LGBTQ+ rights while on the red carpet.
“Trans people have always existed and they will forever exist and they will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away,” she said, acknowledging Trump’s “brutal” executive orders against the transgender community, including one that bans transgender people from the military and another that bans gender-affirming care for trans people under the age of 19.
Trump also signed an order ruling that schools must not participate in “gender ideology,” including language that doubts the existence of transgender children as a whole. Another of his executive orders states that there are only two genders.
“I would not be here without trans girls. So just know that pop music is thinking about you and cares about you and I’m trying my best to stand up for you in every way that I can,” Roan, whose music leans heavily on LGBTQ+ themes, added.
Lady Gaga, who won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, also shared her support for the transgender community.
“Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love,” she said during her acceptance speech.
Shakira accepts the Grammy for best latin pop album.
And Shakira, who is Colombian, took a moment to take a shot at Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
“I want to dedicate this award to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country,” she said while accepting the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album. “You are loved, you are worth it, and I will always fight with you.”
As Daily Kos previously reported, Trump butted heads with Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he shackled up undocumented immigrants and sent them to Colombia on military planes. Despite Trump labeling these immigrants as “criminals,” some aboard were reported to be pregnant women and children.
Similarly, Trump also announced that he will be using Guantanamo Bay as an immigrant concentration camp.
Alicia Keys also took a hit at Trump’s attacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.
“DEI is not a threat. It’s a gift,” she said.
The president ordered all federal DEI hires to be put on leave, and he even blamed DEI for the Los Angeles wildfires and the plane crash near the National Airport.
“This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices we’ve seen on this stage,” Keys added. “And the more voices, the more powerful the sound. When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix, and as you see tonight, music is the unstoppable language that connects us all.”
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