Liberty Counsel files complaint over television performance

A nonprofit legal organization affiliated with Liberty University has filed a complaint over singer Adam Lambert’s controversial performance during Sunday’s American Music Awards.

Lambert, a former American Idol contestant, engaged in simulated sex acts and kissed another man during the awards show that the American Broadcasting Company aired.

Liberty Counsel, which provides free legal assistance in defense of “Christian religious liberty, sanctity of human life and the traditional family,” sent a letter Tuesday to the Federal Communication Commission urging action against ABC for the incident.

Founder and Chairman Mathew Staver, who also serves as dean of the Liberty University School of Law, said the group doesn’t often file FCC complaints but Lambert’s actions were “shocking to the point that it crossed the line.”

“It’s indecent and completely inappropriate to have this kind of sexually provocative performance on television with children watching,” Staver said. “I think it assaulted the senses and common decencies of families watching.”

The performance has been a hot topic online and on television shows. ABC has received more than 1,500 complaints, according to the Associated Press.

Lambert said Wednesday on “The Early Show” on CBS that he did not believe there would be as much controversy if he weren’t openly homosexual.

“I admit I did get carried away but I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Lambert said on the show. “I do see how people got offended and that was not my intention. My intention was to interpret the lyrics of my song and have a good time with it.”

According to a news release from Liberty Counsel, ABC promoted Lambert’s acts to boost its ratings.

“Now ABC should have to pay a hefty penalty to the FCC for assaulting its viewers,” Liberty Counsel President Anita Staver said in the release.

Broadcasting “indecent conduct” is prohibited between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to the Nov. 24 letter signed by Anita Staver.

The letter claimed Lambert’s performance was aired on an ABC affiliate in the Central time zone prior to 10 p.m. and “is clearly indecent under the FCC standards.”

Mathew Staver said the performance by Lambert was more serious than a controversial halftime show during the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston when Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed in what was later termed a “wardrobe malfunction.”

“It wasn’t an isolated activity,” Staver said in regard to Lambert. “It was repeated over and over throughout the entire performance and was meant only for shock value.”

Tim Todd, a second-year law student at LU who helped write the complaint, said he was shocked when he watched the show.

“The whole night they were touting that the Adam Lambert performance was what everyone would be talking about tomorrow,” said Todd. “And they were right … it was disgusting and appalling. I was surprised that ABC would air it.”

Staver said the organization might consider taking steps to urge a boycott against ABC if no action results from the complaint.

“They’re not the only network to watch,” he said. “People do have alternatives.”

The Associated Press contributed