The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has blasted Sunday’s CBS Grammy Awards broadcast, saying it “contributed to the sexual exploitation of women by glamorizing prostitution and stripping.”
The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, formerly known as Morality in Media, called Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s performance of their song “WAP” one that “could have been cut from a hardcore pornography film.”
“CBS allowed a glamorization of stripping and prostitution to be broadcast in front of a national audience — a portion of which were children — for no other reason than for TV ratings,” Dawn Hawkins, the group’s SVP and executive director, said in a statement. “Despite the ‘popularity’ of the song performed by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, CBS should have never allowed this kind of explicit performance to happen at the Grammys.”
“Prostitution and stripping are never empowering for women, as they set up systems that exploit and oppress women,” Hawkins continued. “CBS has contributed to furthering the sexual exploitation of women and contributed to the ‘normalization’ of porn culture.”
Representatives for CBS and the Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammy Awards, did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on the NCOSE’s statement criticizing the show.
Among the many performances featured on Sunday night’s live primetime Grammy Awards telecast was Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s on-stage rendition of their song “WAP,” a track filled with explicit lyrics. (The title itself is an abbreviation for “wet ass p—y.”) The singers changed many of the original lines in “WAP” during their performance and CBS censored out others.
The initial social media reactions to the performance were mixed, and on Monday, Fox News’ Larry Elder compared Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B’s song and dance to a “strip club.”
Stallion won three Grammys at last night’s show, including Best New Artist. You can find the complete list of winners here.
According to early Nielsen data, the 2021 Grammys are set to hit a record low in viewership for the awards show when final numbers come in.