Between awards season and the Super Bowl, we can typically rely on some celebrity's midwinter show to remind us of where our culture stands socially and politically speaking. This time that dubious honor fell to – or to be more accurate, was forced upon – Madonna and Rihanna.
Different circumstances surrounded each but they are tangentially related. The Grammys enlisted pop music's elder stateswoman to introduce Sam Smith, a nonbinary performer, and Kim Petras, a trans woman, on the occasion of their history-making Grammy win for their chart-topping duet "Unholy." But that moment's significance was swallowed by the shock over, yes, Madonna's face.
