Orly? “What ANYONE would have done?” Hm…let’s see if we can’t recall any other stars who weren’t worried about “keeping their own asses out of trouble” who did things far harder than what JT failed to do & who actually did the right thing when it counted…
1) Muhammad Ali faced a trial by the federal government for refusing to go to war as a conscientious objector…and he was a Black man in the 60s with quite a lot to lose…but he risked imprisonment and still managed to do the right thing
2) and there was Marilyn Monroe, who refused to play gigs at a racially segregated club, The Mocambo, if the owners didn’t agree to let Ella Fitzgerald play their venue. That was actually riskier than what JT was facing given that it was segregated, Jim Crow America in the mid 20th century
3) there was also Marlon Brando who refused to accept an Oscar to make a statement about how poorly America treats Native Americans. That was also much riskier than what JT failed to do
(SN: Macklemore could have done something similar if he was really as down as he pretends to be)
4) and the Dixie Chicks once made a principled statement condemning George Bush’s invasion of Iraq, which effectively ended their careers…also much gutsier than what JT didn’t do
5) Sinead O’Connor once tore up a picture of the Pope on SNL on live national television to bring attention to the child rape/abuses of the Catholic Church. That single act put a serious delay her budding career. Love the Pope or hate him, she knowingly put her career on the line to do what she thought was right
6) and lots of other writers, musicians and actors during the political witch hunts Joseph McCarthy held, got themselves permanently barred from their chosen fields simply because they refused to lie about their political affiliations
The people I listed were all at various points in their career paths, some more successful than others, and some even paid the price for taking a stand…but they all literally took on the establishment and risked ending those careers
I am 100% certain there are many other similar instances that I’m either forgetting about or am unaware of, but please…don’t act like JT did “what anyone else would have done” just bc you’re stanning for him or don’t know your history
And what is it we’re really talking about here? Nothing so grandiose as any of the examples above. No one was asking him to take a bullet and kill his career. At the very least, JT could have publicly gone out & immediately made the rounds on the late night talk show circuit and said, “Hey, my bad. I totes didn’t mean to expose Janet’s breast. My hand must have slipped or something” (even though I’m absolutely certain that was the entire point of the so-called malfunction) Instead he went into immediate radio silence & became captain-Kanye-shrug afterwards
Remember: accident or not, he actually pulled off her breast piece & never once went to bat for her (and ofc Janet’s musical career suffered greatly) FFS… I ~*still*~ hear commercials on the radio that literally say how JT “was present at Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction” as if he were away in a dressing room offstage somewhere
And as far as not including him with the other two..? Hell, they’re only tryna get in on a hustle that JT perfected shortly after discarding Janet Jackson: using Black bodies, Black music & Black culture as ornaments to further their careers. That game’s been around longer than Elvis -it’s called cultural appropriation, Whitewashing and erasure
Look, it’s totally cool if you think JT is hot or handsome or whatever…I get that and I’m not one of those guys who can’t admit if another guy is handsome (I will argue all day long with you if you try to say he’s a great singer tho)…just don’t try to bs me w/that “he did what anyone would have done” crap bc he’s a fave of yours. Lots of people do the right thing when it actually counts, even when it costs them dearly
So no, JT does not get a special exemption, because he hasn’t earned one
And FWIW: as far as Macklemore's pathetically weak publicity stunt masquerading as a twitter apology…IF he honestly felt he didn't deserve the award and IF he really wanted to give his Grammy to K-Dot, well I know it was the Golden Globes but I do seem to recall once when Ving Rhames won one of his very first critical awards for acting…and then promptly handed it over to Jack Lemmon. Agree or disagree with that, but he gave it away and it was genuine and it was real
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