Sunday night's Grammy Awards dove less into politics and activism compared to the Golden Globes earlier this month, but in one pre-taped skit, the show plunged right into the, well, fire and fury.
Host James Corden reminded the audience that you don't need to be a musician to win a Grammy – the award for Best Spoken Word Album has gone to books written by a number of politicians like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
"We know that our current president does love winning awards, and the good news for him is he may just be the subject of next year's winner," Corden went on, as The Washington Post reports. "The question I've got is: Who will be the narrator?"
Enter the star-studded pre-taped sketch, with John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B and DJ Khaled each reading passages from Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff's dishy – and disputed — book on the Trump White House.
"If Trump was not having his 6:30 dinner with Steve Bannon, then more to his liking he was in bed by that time with a cheeseburger," reads Cardi B. She looks up at the camera and says "why am I even reading this ... I can't believe this. ... This how he lives his life?"
The last reader is the skit's pièce de résistance: the unmistakable hairstyle and sensible outfit of a certain spoken-word Grammy winner.
Hillary Clinton begins to read, to cheers and applause from the audience: "He had a long-time fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's. Nobody knew he was coming, and the food was safely pre-made."
Corden bursts into the frame. "That's it, we've got it, that's the one!"
"You think so?" Clinton asks. "The Grammy's in the bag?"
"In the bag," he says.
Nikki Haley, Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, was unimpressed.
"I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don't ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it," she tweeted.
I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.
— Archive: Ambassador Nikki Haley (@AmbNikkiHaley) January 29, 2018
Donald Trump Jr., on the other hand, seemed to relish the moment.
"Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt at the Grammys seems like a great consolation prize for losing the presidency," he tweeted.
Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt at the Grammys seems like a great consolation prize for losing the presidency. #GrammyAwards
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 29, 2018
Trump Jr. also tweeted: "The more Hillary goes on television the more the American people realize how awesome it is to have @realDonaldTrump in office #GrammyAwards2018."
All politics aside, there was a noteworthy winner of this year's Best Spoken Word Album: the late Carrie Fisher, for her memoir The Princess Diarist.
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