With the American Music Awards (AMAs) staged less than two weeks after a tumultuous election, it was inevitable that pop culture and politics would cross paths. But the night's boldest moment belonged to an unsurprising group: punk-rock band Green Day, whose lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong led the crowd in a chant of "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A." when they performed their new single, "Bang Bang."
The band has a history of lacing political commentary into their music. In fact, they skyrocketed to fame in 2004 on the back of a song that defiantly protested the Bush administration, "American Idiot," and contained lyrics that declared the group was not "part of a redneck agenda."
Audiences at Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater, where the AMAs were held last weekend, roared with approval at Green Day's anti-Trump sentiments, according to the LA Times. Lead vocalist Armstrong had previously compared the President-elect to Hitler and blamed him for enabling a rise in white supremacy and "blatant misogyny" in the country, referring particularly to the proliferation of attacks against minorities that commenced after the Nov. 8 election.
Two days before the election, Green Day appeared at the MTV European Music Awards in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where they also expressed anti-Trump sentiments. Together with bandmates Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, Green Day performed American Idiot, revising their lyrics to include references to "Trump America," according to the Daily Mail.
Green Day wasn't the only one to take a stand, however. Model Chrissy Teigen called this a "f***ed up f***ing election" when she introduced her husband, John Legend, who performed on the AMAs stage afterward. Lady Gaga, meanwhile, made an uncharacteristically understated gesture of solidarity by wearing Hillary Clinton's clothing of choice: a white pantsuit.
One of the more controversial moments of the evening came courtesy of host and model Gigi Hadid, who did an impression of incoming First Lady Melania Trump during the AMAs opening. She mocked Melania's speech at the RNC this year, which many accused was plagiarized from Michelle Obama. Hadid's impression, done with a fake European accent, was branded as "racist" by many on social media.
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