It takes a lot of guts to follow Kendrick Lamar's amazing opening Grammys performance (featuring U2 and also, surprise, Dave Chappelle) but it should astonish no one that Lady Gaga was up to the task. The singer took the stage with producer Mark Ronson for a performance of both "Joanne" following its stripped-down release this past week, dedicated to her late aunt, and the fan favourite "Million Reasons." In between the two songs, however, she gave one of the first on-stage acknowledgments of #MeToo and Time's Up at the Grammys.
Gaga didn't elaborate further on the nod other than saying "time's up" in between songs, but she's long been an advocate for survivors. At the 2016 Oscars, she gave a heart-wrenching performance of her song "'Til It Happens To You" surrounded by sexual assault survivors and introduced by then Vice President Joe Biden to shine light on It's On Us. Gaga cowrote the song with Diane Warren for The Hunting Ground, a documentary about the rampant problem of sexual assault on college campuses, and the trouble survivors often have seeking justice.
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While this was the first explicit mention of Time's Up during the show, many attendees are expressing their solidarity with the movement by wearing white roses, spotted on people like Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, and Camila Cabello.
"Music artists have a lot of impact," white rose co-organiser Karen Rait told Billboard. "So it's only fitting that music's biggest night show the support for equality and safety in the workplace and that people need to be cognisant of their fellow employees."
If you missed the quick nod, you can see it in the video below.
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