Adam Lambert's performance draws complaints
Photo credit: AP | Adam Lambert performs during the closing act of the 37th Annual American Music Awards in Los Angeles. (Nov. 22, 2009)
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ABC says more than 1,500 people have called to complain about Adam Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards.
The network characterized the response as "moderate." Before his performance, Lambert said that he wanted to break down a double standard that existed where female performers are often sexually provocative while men don't do it that often, The Associated Press reports.
>> PHOTOS: "American Idol" alum Adam Lambert
There were also hostile comments online about the "American Idol" glam rocker who sang his new song "For Your Entertainment" on Sunday's show with an elaborate, S&M-themed production. Lambert performed a simulated sex act on a dancer, led two others around on a leash, had a dancer briefly stick his head in Lambert's crotch and kissed his male keyboard player.
And he's not apologizing. "You know honestly, if I offended some people . . . it's apples and oranges," Lambert told "Access Hollywood." "I'm not an artist that does things for every single person. I believe in artistic freedom and expression."
The performance was edited for the West Coast rebroadcast of the ABC award show, a move that Lambert called "discrimination."
"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," he said on "Access Hollywood." A report on Rollingstone.com said the magazine learned that producers weren't informed about the guy-on-guy kiss in advance.
>> PHOTOS: "American Idol" alum Adam Lambert
