Lord Almighty, I hate this guy. I used to give Adam Lambert the benefit of the doubt, but now I just think he’s milking this AMA “controversy” for all that it’s worth, and he’s doing one of my least favorite things ever, playing the victim. Don’t get me wrong – some people in Hollywood are unfairly maligned at various times, and could actually be considered “victims” of something or the other. But Adam Lambert is not the victim of anything other than his own grossness. After the sudden announcement that Good Morning America was dropping Lambert from their show, Adam gave an interview to Ryan Seacrest’s website claiming that his raunchy, oral sex-projecting AMA performance was “something female performers have been doing for years. All of a sudden a guy does it, and it’s crazy. I do think there’s a slight double standard.” Yeah…if Carrie Underwood had done a similar, heterosexual version, I’m pretty sure people would still be pissed and grossed out.

Everyone’s aflutter about Adam Lambert’s racy performance at the American Music Awards on Sunday – except Adam Lambert.

“I’m not a babysitter, I’m a performer,” Lambert, 27, tells Ryan Seacrest in an interview on the latter’s Web site, adding, “The spirit of rock and roll is alive and well.”

Not on ABC, which apparently didn’t approve of Lambert’s stage show in which he French-kissed a band member and simulated oral sex. The network has made it clear that Lambert won’t be performing on its morning program. It cancelled an appearance on Good Morning America slated for Wednesday after receiving over 1,500 complaints about the Sunday broadcast. The network says it doesn’t feel he’d be appropriate for a morning audience. After the GMA cancellation, CBS asked Lambert to perform on its Early Show on Wednesday instead.

“I think the adrenaline kind of took me over,” Lambert tells Seacrest. “I admit and I’m kind of proud of the fact that I did get a little carried away. I had a good time and I was merely interpreting the lyrics of my song. It wasn’t meant to piss anyone off, it wasn’t meant to hurt anyone or cause any problems.”

But the reaction, he says, is far out of proportion to the offense.

“I don’t feel like I owe anyone an apology,” he says. “I did something female performers have been doing for years. All of a sudden a guy does it, and it’s crazy. I do think there’s a slight double standard.”

His fans seem to agree. On Twitter, the topic #shameonYouABC has been a hot topic since the GMA cancellation was announced, with many fans accusing the network of homophobia and discrimination.

Though he doesn’t hold any grudges against the network, Lambert says that at least people have more realistic expectations since his days on a reality-show competition.

“I’m sexual person, and maybe people didn’t see that on American Idol,” he says. “But now … they do.”

[From People]

The one thing I’ll give Lambert is the whole “I’m not a babysitter” thing. It really isn’t his responsibility to be a role model for impressionable kids, and no celebrity gets to choose their fans or their detractors. However, I get the feeling Lambert is confused about why people are angry – and it’s mainly because he did it on ABC. If he had done the same performance on MTV, there really wouldn’t be much controversy, in my opinion. But because it was network television, and because it was live, it’s a really huge, inappropriate deal.

I have to admit, I couldn’t even watch all of Adam Lambert’s AMA performance. I didn’t even catch the show when it aired, but I watched about thirty seconds of the You Tube clip, and I pretty much had my fill. In case anyone wants to revisit the face-to-crotch grinding, the man-on-Glambert-kissing, the crotch grabbing, the cheesy fake S&M vibe (there was a leash!), bird-flipping or the generally horrible vocal work, revisit MSat’s post from yesterday. It was pretty bad.

Anyway, after everyone had taken stock of the cheese, the grossness, the lameness, and the stupidity of that performance, a lot of people thought Lambert should have to apologize. Lambert was all “thanks but no thanks” to an apology, telling Access Hollywood (via Us Weekly): “You know honestly, if I offended some people… it’s apples and oranges. I’m not an artist that does things for every single person. I believe in artistic freedom and expression, I believe in honoring the lyrics of a song, and those lyrics aren’t really for everybody either.” Fair enough. I interpret what Lambert is saying as “my gross, fake-raunchy stuff isn’t for everyone, live and let live.” But then he goes in a different direction in a minute.

The AMA producers thought Lambert’s performance was so “controversial” (I would have gone with “horrible”) that they edited the crap out of it for the West Coast. That choice angered Lambert, who told Access Hollywood: “There’s a big double standard, female pop artists have been doing things provocative like that for years, and the fact that I’m a male, and I’ll be edited and discriminated against could be a problem. People are scared and it’s really sad, I just wish people could open their minds up and enjoy things, it’s all for a laugh, it’s really not that big of a deal.” Um… here’s the thing: first, they edited Jennifer Lopez’s ass-crash too, and secondly, whatever happened to his song not being “for everybody”? Now we all have to “open our minds” and enjoy this crap?

The next stop, of course, on this spiral of fake-censorship is the latest news that Good Morning America cancelled Lambert’s upcoming performance after the AMA debacle. If people make this into a gay thing, I’m going to rip out my hair.

Adam Lambert is definitely a show-stopper!

Good Morning America canceled Lambert’s performance for the show’s concert series, his rep confirms to Usmagazine.com. (Lambert had no comment.)

A source tells Us it was due to the American Idol alum’s shocking showcase at Sunday night’s American Music Awards, where he simulated fellatio with a male dancer, kissed his male keyboardist, grabbed his crotch and flipped off the crowd.

“It was due to his performance and actions on stage,” the source says.

In a statement, an ABC spokeswoman said, “Given his controversial American Music Awards performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning.”

The GMA performance was scheduled for tomorrow. Now, the rep for Lambert, 27, confirms he will instead be on The Early Show on CBS.

Complaints poured in to ABC — the network that aired the AMAs and GMA — on Monday about the sexually charged performance of “For Your Entertainment,” his first single off his debut album.

According to the Associated Press, ABC said more than 1,500 people complained, what it termed a “moderate” response, and the Parents Television Council also said it had heard from many upset members.

“They’re outraged,” said Timothy Winters, president of the Parents Television Council. “They just can’t believe the nature of the content, the explicit nature, and how much graphic content there was.”

Still, Lambert has made no apologies for the performance.

“You know honestly, if I offended some people… it’s apples and oranges. I’m not an artist that does things for every single person,” he told Access Hollywood after the show Sunday night. “I believe in artistic freedom and expression, I believe in honoring the lyrics of a song, and those lyrics aren’t really for everybody either.”

[From Us Weekly]

Let’s take this issue out of it’s “gay” box. Let’s say someone like… Bono was performing with U2 on a big ABC-aired awards show, and Bono grabbed some girl’s head and shoved his crotch into her face. People would be up in arms. I would be up in arms. It’s a disgusting thing to do during a performance, and that alone is wrong enough. Add to that the other stuff… well, I totally get where Good Morning America (which airs on ABC) is coming from.

Censorship can happen to the best of us, the worst of us, and the gay-est of us. Such it was for the international telecasts of the Academy Awards. As it turns out, it’s not just a problem being gay in some Asian societies – it’s a problem even saying the word “gay”.

The Daily Telegraph spells it out. The acceptance speeches made by Best Actor winner Sean Penn and Best Original Screenplay winner Dustin Lane Black, both for the film Milk, were either edited out of some broadcasts in Asia, or simply had the sound cut out, only leaving the image. Both Penn and Black made multiple references to Harvey Milk, being gay, gay rights, and the word “gay” was heard several times. The censorship is creating a bit of a mess in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and India, with many gay Asians loudly protesting. The Daily Telegraph has more:

Viewers in Asia saw a censored version of the Oscars after television chiefs removed gay references from Sean Penn’s best actor speech.

The STAR satellite channel, which broadcasts to more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, also cut the sound when Dustin Lane Black, who wrote the screenplay for Penn’s film, Milk, addressed “all the gay and lesbian kids”. Milk is the story of Californian gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

Both Penn and Black backed gay marriage in their speeches and called for equal rights for homosexuals. Penn opened by calling the audience “commie, homo-loving sons of guns”.

Gay Asians voiced their anger at the broadcaster, which censored its evening telecasts of the awards ceremony. “As a gay man, I am truly offended,” Pang Khee Teik, a prominent Malaysian arts commentator, wrote in a letter sent out to several media organisations. “Stop censoring the words that describe who I am.”

Pang said the move “sent a message … that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public’s ears.”

Users of Internet forums in Singapore and India also complained about the censored speeches. Jannie Poon, STAR’s Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, stressed that the company had no intention of upsetting any viewers, but said it has “a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration.”

Poon said she was not immediately aware that the speeches had been censored, but noted that STAR’s preliminary ratings for the Oscar broadcasts indicated “record-breaking” audiences, especially in India and Taiwan.

Viewers first noticed that the words were silenced when Black offered a tribute to Milk while accepting the Oscar for best original screenplay.

“If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight … that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you,” Black said.

He was followed by Penn, who said of an anti-gay protest outside the theatre: “For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it’s a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that support.”

From The Daily Telegraph

It’s interesting that so many people are speaking out about the censorship. It might seem minor in the grand scheme of things, but this is a good way to begin pushing the gay rights agenda in more conservative, traditional countries. The statement from the STAR spokeperson is insulting – that they have “a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration”. Do they think that if people hear the word “gay” they will suddenly become gay?