A few months after controversially placing second in “American Idol,” Adam Lambert released his first studio album, “For Your Entertainment.” Not long after, he went on to perform the titular track at the 2009 American Music Awards — a performance that saw him face a ton of backlash.
Lambert’s live performance was incredibly raunchy, and included him pushing dancers towards his crotch. It also saw him have a spontaneous makeout sesh with his bass player. There’s no denying, then, that there was bound to be some controversy. However, Lambert has also pointed out that he’d seen straight artists do very similar things on stage, so it definitely felt blown out of proportion that he was banned from a scheduled appearance on “Good Morning America,” and even threatened with the possibility of legal action. That said, he was incredibly gracious over the situation in an interview with “The Ellen Show.” Though he maintained that he didn’t think he needed to apologize over anything, he also pointed out that he could understand that the unrehearsed raunchiness might not have been a wise call on his part.
Graciousness aside, Lambert has since told People the fallout marked a defining point in his career. “I was like, ‘Well, fine. I’m going to lean in and I’m going to be as gay as I f***ing can be, and be flamboyant, and be wild,” he said. More recently, Lambert has spoken out in praise of Lil Nas X for his own awards show kiss, applauding his confidence.
