CBS, which broadcast the awards show Sunday night, posted and then subsequently deleted a tweet that promoted a controversial performance of the hit song “Unholy” by artists Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
Ahead of the performance, Smith tweeted an image of himself wearing a top hat with devil horns and the caption, “This is going to be SPECIAL,” to which CBS’ verified account replied, “…you can say that again. We are ready to worship!”
Moments later, Smith and Petras, who became the first nonbinary-identified and trans-identified artists, respectively, to win a Grammy, delivered a demonically-inspired performance in which Smith, at one point, donned the top hat with devil horns while dancers gyrated around him while wearing grotesque face masks.
Petras sang from inside a cage as flames roared behind her and performers wearing devilish headgear stalked around the locked cage door.
By Monday evening, the tweet was marked as deleted by the author.
In response, conservative Christian watchdog group Media Research Center tweeted, “Did CBS just admit it worships Satan?”
Viewers also took exception to the segment after a “sponsored by Pfizer” tag was shown on air following the performance.
Pfizer has since stated the sponsorship was for the Grammys broadcast as a whole and not for that specific segment.