Grammys dumpster fire: Bullying hypocrites overtake the big show

If you ever wondered what a dumpster fire looks like, you need only look to the 2018 Grammys. The show was so awful, even the usual sycophantic media were more than unkind. USA Today called the effort an “out-of touch embarrassment.” The Daily Beast called it a “tone deaf … mess.” Vogue quizzically mused, “Are the Grammys sexist?” While AdAge noted the real problem for those in the business of music and television: “Grammys hit a sour note, as ratings fall to a 9-year low.”

During the show, the music industry elite made it very clear they don’t like President Trump, conservatives or those who voted for him. The show was drenched in smug, as singers speechified about the importance of fairness and equality, while mocking Mr. Trump and by proxy, all those who voted for him.

People don’t tune into a music show to be lectured. Consequently, after all the Grammy political screeds and virtue-signaling, the Hollywood Reporter noted, “2018 Grammys Tumble to All-Time Demo Low. The telecast, which ran a bloated three-and-a-half hours, was off by 24 percent from 2017…”

That’s a veritable crash and burn. One out of 4 people who watched last year, made a decision to not do so this year. Many industry apologists are trying to convince themselves that people didn’t tune in because rappers or hip-hop artists aren’t getting enough awards.

It’s not who is and who is not getting awards; it’s the fact that Americans are tired of being bullied by so-called entertainment industries full of people who are hypocrites and abusers.

For those who did tune in, they saw a bunch of people wearing white roses and the ubiquitous and useless “Time’s Up” pins signaling that they, too, are really, really mad at sexism and sexual harassment. Then they put on a show where only two women won awards during the show itself.

Viewers were also subjected to the anti-sexual assault crowd showcasing Hillary Clinton, a politically failed woman who may also be the world’s best-known enabler of sexual harassment (friend and recipient of Harvey Weinstein’s largesse).

Speaking of protecting jerks, Hillary was also recently exposed by The New York Times as having shielded a sexual harasser during her 2008 political campaign, while then disrupting the targeted woman’s work life by moving her to a different job.

So at least the craven among them know in the midst of a Clinton scheme, you can wear a “Time’s Up” pin but time is never really up.

CBS, the network that aired the Grammys, know they have a problem on their hands. Advertising rates are based on ratings from the previous year, with the presumption at least those numbers will be met. When they’re not, the network has to reimburse advertisers, known as “makegoods,” for whatever the actual viewership ended up being. The NFL’s rating also crashed last year by 10 percent causing, according to Breitbart, a $30 million shortfall in advertising revenue. This plunge followed the previous year’s 8 percent decline.

The truth is, people across the political spectrum have simply had enough with politicized entertainment and sports. This columnist heard from a number of liberal friends who tuned in and then tuned out when it became apparent the show was turning into a political lecture. The holier-than-thou liberal elite have exhausted everyone, including their own base.

Dismissing the American people as stupid rubes (including their own bases of support) was bound to eventually backfire. Washington, D.C., is still reeling from the election of Mr. Trump, one of those actions the American people took to defend their families’ futures.

We are now sending a message to our cultural gatekeepers that the work they do is only relevant if we consume it. In the aftermath of the Grammy dumpster fire, various autopsies of the show have ignored the damage done because of their political navel-gazing and mockery of Americans who don’t conform to their liberal worldview.

The ratings crash was no joke and will continue. Award shows are meant to be massive marketing campaigns for their various products, as well as a way for television networks to make a lot of money. But it’s becoming clear, if the hypocrisy of those industries on social issues and the increasing bullying and contempt for a massive segment of Americans continues, then these self-congratulatory exhibitions will not survive, relegated to history as bitter and miserable versions of “The Gong Show.”

• Tammy Bruce, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.

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