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Social media lit up after satanic imagery seemingly dominated one of the Grammy Awards performances, with fire, horns, and so-called “she-devils” taking the stage. The themes, part of singers Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” performance, weren’t only lamented on social media; they were also discussed and even heralded on the official Grammy website and in other venues.
“Surrounded by long-haired acolytes in identical red sheaths, Smith kicked off the performance in an outfit of latex and a devil-horned top hat,” a Grammy description noted, going on to say, Petras, who is transgender, entered with “she-devils” before “a wall of fire erupted.”
Variety called the performance “horror movie-inspired” and noted that some dancers had “satanic headgear.” And the entire spectacle was introduced by Madonna, a singer well-known for controversy.
Critics immediately took to social media to express concerns over the scenes perpetuated on the small screen, accusing Hollywood of invoking satanic imagery and lamenting the overall state of affairs in American entertainment. “Where have we gone to? This looks like satanic worship,” Twitter user Golf Girl wrote. “The song is called ‘Unholy.’ Is this where America has gone to? One Nation under God has left us.”
Attorney and radio host Jenna Ellis accused the Grammy Awards of going “full-on, openly satanic.” After the performance ended, Grammys host Trevor Noah addressed the themes, pretending to be on a phone call with his mother. “No, mom, it wasn’t the actual devil,” he said, responding to his mother’s faux concern. “Yeah, you did warn me about Hollywood.” Noah concluded, “She said she’d be praying for all of us.”
After the show, Petra told reporters backstage the performance was inspired by “not being able to choose religion.” She said, “I think a lot of people, honestly, have kind of labeled what I stand for and what Sam stands for as religiously not cool, and I personally grew up wondering about religion and wanting to be a part of it but slowly realizing it didn’t want me to be a part of it.”
“So it’s a take on not being able to choose religion. And not being able to live the way that people might want you to live because, as a trans person, I’m already not kind of wanted in religion. So we were doing a take on that, and I was kind of hell keeper Kim.”
A tweet by CBS leading into Sunday night’s Grammy Awards also caused an online stir, with many people wondering what message the media outlet was trying to send. CBS responded to a tweet from Singer Sam Smith, which featured a photo of the nonbinary singer in rehearsal wearing devil horns.
“This is going to be SPECIAL,” Smith tweeted with a devil emoji. CBS responded to the tweet, “….you can say that again. We are ready to worship!” The strange tweet drew eyeballs. Several people expressed disbelief the tweet was genuine, while others characterized the tweet as a sign of the times.
Music video producer and director Robby Starbuck called the tweet an admission CBS was “compromised by evil.”