The 2026 Grammys Was a Snapshot of America Now: Either Speaking Out or Remaining “Apolitical”

In the past, awards shows tended to be, at least to the more “pearl-clutching” types, a notorious opportunity for artists to get “hyper-political.” As it turns out in the present day, being deemed “hyper-political” (or even just “political”) means saying pretty much anything related to the current “situation” (i.e., shitshow/increasingly fascist regime). Or, even more accurately, anything that acknowledges that the system that “functions” as our way of life isn’t working, and hasn’t for quite some time. At the 68th Annual Grammys, the disconnect amongst those for whom it would be unfathomable not to say something and those who would prefer to just “go with the flow” (a.k.a. status quo—and one that is ever more alarming) was more palpable than ever. Not to mention extremely indicative of where the country is at right now, even amongst those who are supposed to be “liberal,” “progressive,” “forward-thinking” and tout ça.

The pre-show for the Grammys, of course, revealed no sign of anyone addressing the current rash of troubling events concentrated in the U.S., and helmed by the usual Orange Creature (who is, if nothing else, “the face” of the evil behind him). You know, the same man who was very close with the Hilton family and had signed Paris to his modeling agency (the questionably named “T Management”) when she was nineteen. Something that helped her “career” as an it girl, though not as much as the sex tape of her and Rick Salomon that was leaked in 2003, just before the premiere of The Simple Life. Indeed, it was on said series that Hilton was briefly assigned to be an “intern” for a morning show in Baltimore. At one point, she had to give the weather report, informing viewers, “It’s raining everywhere. You guys should move to L.A. It’s really, like, better weather.” Cut to 2026 at the Grammys pre-show, and she’s telling her interviewers, “The weather is beautiful. No rain.” The difference between now and then being the fact that it’s in more than slightly poor taste for West Coastians to boast about the nice meteorological conditions when most of the rest of the United States (particularly the East Coast) has been pummeled with shitty winter weather. But then, it’s pretty on-brand for an “in her own alternate world” celebrity like Hilton.

Elsewhere on the red carpet, Chappell Roan materialized wearing little material. Not that the choice to “bare all” is new or shocking, nor should it be shamed, it’s just that Roan (/her stylist) seemed intent to ignore the recent unfavorable reaction to this revived version of the dress from Thierry Mugler’s S/S 1998 runway show, with model Erica Van Briel’s then fresh real-life nipple piercings inspiring the design. As Van Briel recalled, “I had my nipples pierced and I guess the word spread very fast. Next thing I knew, Thierry said I have a dress for you and I’m going to hang it off your nipples. It’s going to be a light muslin material.”

As for Roan, it could have potentially been a heavier fabric than that considering her “titty rig” consisted of prosthetics. Whatever fabric it was for Roan, the overarching takeaway appeared to be that she was veering slightly off-course from her “activism” stylings (which, in its way, often extends to her wardrobe) and catering to the male gaze. Or, as José Criales-Unzueta of Vanity Fair noted when speaking on The New York Times’ reaction to Miguel Castro Freitas’ debut runway show featuring a new version of that 1998 Mugler number,

“The dress did look out of place in today’s sartorial context as a remnant of a va-va-voom era of fashion that has, for better or for worse, expired. Today, in the era post #MeToo and at a time when fashion on the runway has become less about gimmick, statement, or scandal and increasingly more about wearability and commerciality, a style like that, presented by a male designer, came across as dated at best and mostly male gaze-y. It was, above all, a great example of what fashion’s obsession with nostalgia has done to it as a cultural instrument—our collective obsession as an industry for romancing and recreating the past has meant that designers don’t always speak to the future.”

Roan, as a product of Gen Z who can’t help but suffer from such nostalgia, didn’t look as if she fathomed that. Or why anyone, in the Orange Creature’s America, would be scandalized by her own version of Kesha’s Tits Out Tour. But, since history (particularly the history of the past thirty years) is content to repeat itself, of course conservatives would express outrage over her “runway attire.” Just as they did over Jennifer Lopez’s iconic Versace “green dress” with the ultra-ultra plunging “neckline” that she wore to the 2000 Grammys. A year when it still made sense to parade such glamor and joie de vivre. After all, George W. Bush had yet to “win” the election and take office, 9/11 hadn’t happened yet and America was coming off the high of Y2K not actually necessitating the building of a bunker. But in 2026, this kind of sartorial display does somehow seem incongruous. Not to mention that it says nothing that speaks to the current political issues at hand.

Issues that, ultimately, only Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish felt obliged to most openly and passionately speak about when they got the opportunity to take the stage and accept their award (in Bad Bunny’s case, two awards [though three in total, it was just that “televised-wise,” he accepted two). It began early on in the ceremony, when Bad Bunny was presented the award for Best Música Urbana Album for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Wasting no time in getting to the core of what he wanted to say with his speech, Bad Bunny announced, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE Out. We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans. Also, I wanna say to the people, I know it’s tough not to hate on these days, and I was thinking sometimes we get…I don’t know how to say contaminados—I don’t know how to say that in English. Um…the hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So, please, we need to be different [his equivalent of, “When they go low, we go high”]. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”

Though, of course, the demented strain of Republicans currently “in charge” would insist that’s exactly what they’re doing. And all for “love of country.” Bad Bunny then somewhat digressed as he concluded, “We don’t hate them. We love our people, we love our family and that’s the way to do it: with love. Don’t forget that please. Thank you God! And thank you to the Academy!” So all in all, a very “Christlike” speech (which is, naturally, to be expected of a Pisces).

Not to mention a fortunate speech since even Lady Gaga, usually known for saying at least something slightly political (regardless of if it’s as simple as, “I just want to say tonight that trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love. Thank you”), did not deliver at all on that front this year. Instead pivoting into hetero overdrive by immediately thanking her fiancé, Michael Polansky, with, “I have to say thank you first to my partner, Michael, I love you so much.” So no wonder later on, when Entertainment Tonight mentioned how she had “tears in her eyes” upon seeing Bad Bunny win, Gaga explained, “I thought what he said was incredibly important right now and so inspiring. What’s happening in this country is incredibly heartbreaking and we’re so lucky to have, um, leaders like him that are speaking up for what is true and what is right.” Since, apparently, Gaga wasn’t in the mood to do it on the Grammys stage this year. Leaving that task up to another white girl named Billie Eilish.

To be sure, it did seem somewhat kismet that, out of all the nominees for Record of the Year, Eilish and Finneas’ “Wildflower” managed to usurp the likes of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” Huntrix’s (a.k.a. Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami) “Golden” and Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” Because, of these nominees (since Lady G wasn’t feeling politics this year), only Eilish would have had the cojones to get up on the stage and declare, “No one is illegal on stolen land. And yeah, it’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now. And I just, I feel really hopeful in this room and I feel like we need to just keep fighting and speaking up and protesting and our voices really do matter, and the people matter and, um, fuck ICE.”

Needless to say, it’s the sort of statement that Sabrina Carpenter wouldn’t make by any stretch. For, although she frequently emulates Madonna in aesthetics, her “politics” (or lack thereof) are decidedly modeled after Taylor Swift’s. Which is to say, “keep a low profile” and “be as unoffensive as possible” (save for her show of allyship at the 2025 VMAs). Though, when it comes to her sexuality, Carpenter does her best to make up for her lack of political controversy by wielding, let’s say, physical displays as a means to raise eyebrows (and, for many straight men, a certain appendage). This in lieu of singing something that would perhaps be deemed less “frothy” and/or innuendo-laden at a time like this.

To that point, there was her “saying nothing” performance of “Manchild” that styled her as a 1960s-esque flight attendant (back when they were still being called “hostesses”)/pilot as she flitted about various men in different uniforms meant to indicate a profession (that AI will likely somehow take over in the next few years). This done on a luggage carousel against the backdrop of an actual plane. And, for some reason, a white dove was pulled out of a magician’s hat (one of the many men “in uniform”), which PETA did not take kindly to (among other aspects about using the bird). What’s more, just because a member of the animal kingdom was involved, Britney Spears’ “I’m A Slave 4 U” at the 2001 VMAs this was not.

While Carpenter’s performance wasn’t bad, per se, it wasn’t really great. Which is also a key sum-up of music in general right now, with so few standing out in any meaningful way. Not just with their songs, but with their performances of them (including Addison Rae’s, which felt like a loose knockoff of Charli XCX’s shtick for her 2025 Grammys appearance). Performances that, one supposes, can’t really be political since they’re already songs that say nothing to begin with. At the Grammys this year, that had never seemed quite so apparent. Especially against the backdrop of the current political climate, when more artists’ voices are needed to shout from the mountaintops about these injustices. Alas, Trevor Noah will have to stand in for those musicians who clearly didn’t think speaking out was worth being threatened with a lawsuit by the Orange Creature.