The 2022 Billboard Music Awards featured performances from not one but two scandal-ridden artists.
Morgan Wallen and Travis Scott both performed at Sunday's awards ceremony, the first live televised performance for Wallen since he was caught on tape using a racial slur.
In early 2021, Wallen was suspended by his label when a video emerged showing him using the N-word after returning home from a night out with friends. He apologized for his "unacceptable and inappropriate" language. The scandal led Wallen to be banned from appearing at multiple awards shows, but the Billboard Music Awards allowed him to attend. MRC Live & Alternative, which produces the show, said Wallen was invited because of his "demonstrated and ongoing commitment to meaningful work and outreach." Wallen, who didn't address the scandal at the show, also won the award of top country male artist.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meanwhile, this was also the first live televised performance for Scott since 10 people were killed while he was performing at a music festival in Texas in November 2021, sparking numerous lawsuits.
The awards show was hosted by Diddy, who declared he would be "un-canceling the canceled."
"I looked at Morgan's situation," Diddy said, per Page Six. "I looked at Travis' situation and I said, 'Man, I got some power to do something about that because we can't start that in the music industry or even in life period, so I'm here to forgive, to unify, to celebrate, and to have everybody be free."
-
Africa's largest dam is making diplomatic wavesUnder the Radar Ethiopians view using the Nile as a 'sovereign right' but the vast hydroelectric project has 'fuelled nationalist fervour' in Egypt and Sudan
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting warTalking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
