Let’s call a spade a spade, shall we?
I’m sorry, Katy Perry, but that was sexual harassment. As a judge, you are in a position of power over the contestants who aspire to join the show. Any kind of flirting or sexual advantage you take on them is considered harassment. If the roles were reversed and Luke Bryan forced a kiss on the lips on a naive young female artist, there would be a worldwide uproar over it.
Women fight for equality and empowerment. But it is situations like this that set us back to square one. If we want equality, then we also have to be equally responsible for our actions. Men are at the spotlight when it comes to their liberties and actions toward the women in their environment. Women should be held accountable too. We cannot be cherry-picking on when we want to be treated as equals and when we want to have special considerations.
Sure, the contestants may not make a big deal out of it. But that doesn’t make it okay. Let this be a lesson. This is a reality singing contest, not The Bachelorette. You are there to judge them on their talent, not to pick and choose who you are attracted to, whether in jest or good fun. If it was meant not to harm, then surely it will be easy to shift to a different approach when trying to make auditions more entertaining, right?
I guess with all these negative things I see on AI this season, I’ll be more than happy to stick with my tried and true favorite, The Voice.