[A.j. Hammer, Co-host:] Now, on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Adam Lambert`s sexually- charged shocker at the American Music Awards. The absolute outrage over the sexually explosive performance by the openly gay "American Idol" star. Tonight, Adam`s angry claim that there is a double standard with women.
[Adam Lambert, "american Idol" Runner-up:] All of a sudden, a male does it and everybody goes, "Oh, we can`t show that on TV."
[Hammer:] Tonight, the great debate. Did Adam go too far? Brand-new revelations today about why Oprah is quitting her show from her confidant, Gayle King. Could Gayle be replacing Oprah? But what about Ellen or Tyra? Slamming Sarah. Tonight, the unbelievable brand-new fallout after Martha Stewart bashes Sarah Palin right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
[Martha Stewart, Tv:] I mean, she`s dangerous.
[Unidentified Male:] TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
[Hammer:] Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
[Brooke Anderson, Co-host:] Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson coming to you from Hollywood. And tonight, Adam`s sexual surprise. And we are not talking about Adam Lambert`s sexuality. The "American Idol" runner-up is openly gay. But what he did at the American Music Awards ignited an absolute firestorm today over whether he finally went too far. Adam could not have asked for more publicity just in time for his new album which officially dropped today. But I can tell you that hardly anybody I spoke today with could remember what song he actually sang last night at the AMAs, because all we could remember was his over-the-top sexually charged performance that made for big news breaking.
[Janell Snowden, Host, Vh1 News:] When Adam came on, his voice captivated me. So I stopped what I was doing and I dropped my jaw when I saw that whole display of sexuality. I was like, "Really, Adam? Really? This is what I`m getting?"
[Anderson:] What the audience got was a provocative mix of sexuality and S & M. Some highlights included Lambert`s dragging a fishnet-clad woman around the stage by her leg. Leading two male dancers around by a leash. Some pretty shocking sex simulations for broadcast TV. And perhaps most provocative of all, Lambert kissed his male keyboardist.
[Jo Piazza, Cnn.com Contributor:] This was definitely the kiss heard and seen throughout the world.
[Anderson:] The debate raged on today in the blogosphere and in daytime talk about Lambert`s performance. The ladies of "The View" duked it out over whether Lambert stepped way over the line.
[Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Co-host, "the View":] We will not remember him as a performer or someone with a voice if he continues to do things like this. So, smarten up and think.
[Joy Behar, Co-host, "the View":] Everyone loves a lesbian kiss. When two guys are kissing, they get upset.
[Anderson:] And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, Adam Lambert agrees with Joy. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT spoke directly to Lambert right after his controversial performance. He told us people need to stop with the double standard.
[Lambert:] I feel like women performers have been pushing the envelope sexually for the past 20 years. And all of a sudden, a male does it and everybody goes, "Oh, we can`t show that on TV." And to me that`s a form of discrimination and it`s a double standard.
[Piazza:] I don`t think there is such a double standard. The world erupted when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed at the MTV Video Music Awards. And that was a huge story. Everyone was talking about it, the same way they talk about Adam Lambert.
[Snowden:] Yes, there is a double standard. But hon, guess what? You are just starting your career. You really need to establish yourself first before you try to come out of the box and be this, like, you know, social advocate for gay rights.
[Anderson:] And the overwhelming reaction breaking today in the blogosphere was anything less than glowing for Lambert. "Entertainment Weekly" was not impressed, writing, "That the golden voice took a back seat and I`m not sure exactly who was occupying the driver`s seat."
[Piazza:] He did sound a little like a cat in heat. Maybe that`s because he was focusing on the shock factor.
[Anderson:] But that shock factor got major kudos. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton wrote, "Was it over-the-top? Yes, and we loved it. He has gotten a lot of criticism for this performance, but Adam Lambert, we applaud you."
[Lambert:] That`s what I`m looking for. Cheers at the end.
[Anderson:] So with the outrageous performance, the cat-in-heat vocals and boy-on-boy kiss, did Lambert come out of the AMAs a winner?
[Piazza:] I think at the end of the day, Adam Lambert won. Everyone is talking about him. His album dropped today. I think the sales are going to be huge. So I think that he`s really putting himself out there and he`s going to come out as a winner.
[Hammer:] Well, you can`t deny he is an artist being an artist. But was Adam Lambert`s performance completely offensive? Or is he a victim of this double standard? Joining me tonight from Hollywood, Tanika Ray, who is an entertainment journalist. Also tonight in Hollywood, Carlos Diaz, who is a correspondent for "Extra." And Carlos, right off to you. Were you offended by the Adam Lambert performance at the AMAs?
[Carlos Diaz, Correspondent, "extra":] Well, this is a political show, I have to say, as a Republican or as a Democrat. So I need to say this as a straight man, I was not offended at all by this, OK? We have seen this time and time again. David Bowie, Prince, even Michael Jackson to some extent the whole androgynous thing. And let me get as clear as I can be. The only reason we are offended and are talking about this is because a guy kissed another guy on network TV last night. The whole leading people around on stage by leashes, what he did with the girls on stage, no. It`s because he kissed another guy.
[Hammer:] See, I don`t think that`s it, Carlos. What I have been hearing from so many people today and Tanika, I want to get your take, how you thought but what I have been hearing is it wasn`t so much the kiss. I mean, look. It`s 2010. Give me a break. We`re almost in the brand-new year here. But I think what people are offended is more the simulated oral sex and some other things that we were seeing. Tanika, first of all, is that how you saw it and were you offended?
[Tanika Ray, Entertainment Journalist:] No. See, I was privy to how Adam performed prior to "American Idol." What you have to realize is that he sanitized his whole performance to be on that show, "American Idol."
[Hammer:] Yes.
[Ray:] This guy is a glam rock performer. He is all balls out, for lack of a better term. And he doesn`t care what people feel about him. Him simulating oral sex entertaining all the way. Him leading guys on leashes I thought at least it sparked a little something in the show. And it was different. It was entertaining. And when it comes down to it, the man knows how to put on a show. The only thing that I was worried about him kissing that piano player who`s apparently straight, by the way. I thought he would like lose teeth. They`d smash their faces together so hard. That was the only think I was thinking about.
[Diaz:] I agree with Tanika there. It was a painful kiss. But one other thing Janet Jackson grabbed some guy in the nether region to open the show and no one`s talking about that.
[Hammer:] Well, that could go to the point of the double standard.
[Ray:] We did see her boobs.
[Hammer:] And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was right there at the American Music Awards. We got a chance to speak with Adam Lambert as he walked off on the stage. And he really did go off on that whole idea claiming that when women do what he did, it`s really not such a big deal. Watch what he told us.
[Lambert:] As an afterthought, I do feel like there is a bit of a double standard in the entertainment community on television, on radio. I feel like women performers have been pushing the envelope sexually for the past 20 years. And all of a sudden, a male does it and everybody goes, "Oh, we can`t show that on TV." And to me that`s a form of discrimination and it`s a double standard. And that`s too bad.
[Hammer:] And to be clear, historically, the women do get called out for some of these things that Adam is talking about. But Tanika, what do you think? All that sad, double standard there? Is Adam right?
[Ray:] I do think it`s a double standard. But you know what? That`s just America. We think two women kissing that`s sexy and provocative versus two men that`s really still taboo in America. So yes, it`s a double standard, but all in all, people just need to get over it. The man is trying to sell some albums and that`s exactly how you do it. You take a page out of Madonna`s book. You take a page out of Britney`s book. You take a page out of Janet`s book.
[Hammer:] Yes.
[Ray:] That`s the way you do it. The man is new on the scene. You`ve got to do what you`ve got to do.
[Hammer:] And whether or not it was intentional, certainly not a bad thing to that point that everybody is talking about him say. All right. Let`s move on to another shocker at the AMAs. I want you to take a look at something. And this was not a planned action if you ask me. J-Lo taking this big tumble during her performance, landing right there on her butt. Brand-new reports that she was so furious backstage, Dick Clark Productions, who does the AMAs, actually edited out the fall for the west coast showing of the American Music Awards. And today, J-Lo told Ryan Seacrest oh, yes, the fall was all part of an act. Listen to this.
[Ryan Seacrest, Radio Talk Show:] It was the greatest recovery ever.
[Jennifer Lopez, Singer And Actress:] No, it was just a yes, I meant to do that. What are you talking about? You should know me better than that. That was part of the choreography.
[Seacrest:] No, what I know is and I didn`t want to tell people that, but you do things because it makes you endearing. It makes you one of us.
[Lopez:] That`s it. That`s it. Look, the measure of things is not what happens when you fall. It`s how you handle it when you fall.
[Hammer:] OK. Carlos, quickly here. Are you with me that as much as she`s having a good laugh about, that was not a planned fall right there?
[Diaz:] It`s ironic that she`s singing a song about shoes that her shoes failed her on the fall. But on the west coast, we didn`t see it. We saw a really cool effect. We saw a slow motion effect. But I had to go online today to see the fall. That was a real fall.
[Ray:] Absolutely.
[Hammer:] Hey, another reason to move to New York. All right. Also making some big news in the American Music Awards Michael Jackson won a record number of awards. And then, of course, there`s this news breaking today you`re not going to believe this. Michael Jackson`s doctor, you know, the guy suspected of being responsible for Michael`s death, went back to work today. Unbelievable. He hung the shingle back up at his doctor`s office. I mean, who is going to see this guy? Tanika, Carlos, we`re going to get into that coming up next.
[Anderson:] Tonight, brand-new revelations about Oprah`s big decision. Her best friend and confidante is speaking out about Oprah`s decision to end her show after 25 years. So could Gayle King possibly replace Oprah? What about Ellen or Tyra? The great debate. Plus, say goodbye to "Jon & Kate Plus 8." Just as the last episode airs tonight, brand-new divorce drama with flowers and everything. You have got to see what happens when Jon brought Kate flowers. And unbelievable fallout after Martha Stewart slams Sarah Palin. And she spoke out right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
[Stewart:] She`s dangerous.
[Unidentified Female:] In what way?
[Stewart:] She speaks. She is so confused. And anyone like that in government is a real problem.
[Anderson:] People are really fired up about this. Wait until you hear the reaction we are getting. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on
[Hln. Hammer:] Now, it`s time for the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" these are more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom, and yes, they are making news right now.
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