James Corden, the show’s host, introduced the bit on the premise of interviewing candidates to record the audio version of “Fire and Fury,” the political book by Michael Wolff about chaos inside the Trump administration.
After a list of celebrities — John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B and DJ Khaled — gave it their farcical bests, Clinton got big applause as she appeared.
Holding the book as she read, she said:
Clinton: He had a longtime 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.
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Corden: That’s it, we’ve got it. That’s the one.
Clinton: You think so?
Corden: Oh yeah.
Clinton: The Grammy’s in the bag?
Corden: In the bag.
The moment of levity wasn’t universally appreciated. Nikki R. Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Donald Trump Jr. were among those to tweet their displeasure.
“I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it,” Haley tweeted. “Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.”
And Trump wrote, “Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt at the Grammys seems like a great consolation prize for losing the presidency. #GrammyAwards.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
DANIEL VICTOR © 2018 The New York Times