Adam Lambert reacted to Lil Nas X‘s viral kiss during the BET Awards.
On Sunday (June 27), the “Old Town Road” singer performed at the BET Awards. He donned an Egyptian pharaoh costume while he performed “Remember the Time” by Michael Jackson to honor the late pop star. He then transitioned into performing his current single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”
During his performance, he made out with one of his backup dancers in front of both the live audience and the countless television viewers at home. The moment caused social media to blow up with both positive and negative responses.
In an interview with Billboard, the American Idol alum praised Lil Nas X’s performance.
“I thought it was hot,” he told the outlet. “I mean, he’s really giving it to us. I think he is definitely like the gay pop star that is 2021 — he’s bold, he’s controversial, he’s pushing boundaries. That’s what we want our pop stars to do. It’s just taken this long to have it be a gay one.”
You’ll recall that Lambert made headlines with his 2009 American Music Awards performance of “For Your Entertainment.” During his set, he kissed his keyboard player. The same-sex kiss caused an uproar on social media and news outlets alike.
“I was pulled off of ABC for a little while,” Lambert revealed. “They were freaked out, they had Christian parent groups writing in, the censors were freaked out. The thing I found so funny was like, ‘Censors? It’s a kiss! When was that indecent?'”
Although he received significant backlash for a harmless kiss, he was able to book a slot on Good Morning America shortly after the performance. During the show, they showed a clip of Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera kissing during their viral moment at the 2003 VMAs. The morning show then showed a clip of Lambert kissing his keyboard player with their mouths censored.
“I just remember thinking that was the biggest slap in the face — it’s like, that proved my point,” he said. “It’s so crazy to me that this double standard was so blatant and obvious, where two women kissing was not indecent, but two men kissing was.”
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