Robin Glynn – General Assignment Reporter –
Jennifer Lopez, Lil Kim, Pink and Toni Braxton have all made bold fashion statements at award shows, but CBS is putting a stop to that at this past Grammy Awards.
Who could forget Lopez arriving to the Grammy’s on the arm of Diddy in her extremely low cut green Versace dress, or Lil Kim arriving to the MTV Video Music Awards in a purple jumpsuit with her breast exposed with a seashell covering her nipple?
CBS is putting a stop to the crazy outfits the celebrities might wear. CBS executives have reached out to the celebrities attending the biggest night in music with a message to cover up.
Just days after CBS accidentally broadcast the Baltimore Ravens MVP quarterback Joe Flacco shouting to offensive lineman Marshal Yanda: “This is effin’ awesome!” during the team’s Super Bowl win, a memo was leaked, in which CBS Executives urged music industry celebrities to keep Sunday’s Grammy broadcast clean.
“Please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered,” the memo read, which was distributed to attendees and their representatives. “Thong type costumes are problematic.”
The memo continues, asking attendees to “avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack. Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic. Please avoid sheer see-through clothing that could possibly expose female breast nipples. Please be sure the genital region is adequately covered so that there is no visible ‘puffy’ bare skin exposure.”
The memo was distributed by a staffer in the CBS’s Standards and Practices Department, which is supposed to keep the airwaves free of obscenities and nudity.
Other topics mentioned in the memo include a plea to avoid commercial identification “of actual brand name products on T-shirts,” instructions that “foreign language on wardrobe will need to be cleared” and a call to ban artists and other Grammy audience members from wearing “lapel pins or any other form of accessory” that represent an “organized cause.”
The network has been in hot water since the infamous 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show with Janet Jackson, in which her breast was exposed. During a performance, Justin Timberlake ripped off a part of her costume, but too much material came off.
About 90 million viewers saw a peek at the singer’s breast for roughly nine-sixteenths of a second. CBS was fined $550,000 by the FCC, but a court later overturned the fine.
With these two instances, should CBS tell celebrities what they can and can’t wear?
Clothing is an expression, expressing who we are and what we are feeling. It is an awards show, but it is not the Academy Awards. The Grammy’s and VMA’s are just two award shows in a short list where it is expected celebrities will wear something crazy.
In 2010, Pink performed upside down in a nude-colored bodysuit, but it was practically the same outfit Britney Spears wore in her music video “Toxic.” I think that styles have changed drastically since Lil Kim’s outfit. As crazy as some outfits have been, I can say I have not been offended.
I expect Lady Gaga to wear a crazy outfit, like her meat dress on arrival to the Grammy’s, or Rihanna to wear something similar to her low cut little black dress at last year’s Grammy’s. I get that CBS is protecting themselves because of past issues, but I don’t think it will be the Grammy’s without the crazy outfits.
