Skillet’s John Cooper Likens Grammys to Hitler After Cardi B ‘WAP’ Performance [Update]
Skillet frontman John Cooper has issued a video response to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's performance of "WAP" (which stands for "Wet Ass Pussy") at the 2021 Grammy Awards, in which he spoke about the current climate of redefining good as evil and vice versa, likening the hyper sexual Grammys act to speeches made by Nazi party leader and German dictator Adolf Hitler.
In the latest installment of the "Cooper Stuff Reacts To" video series by the Skillet frontman, he addressed "Christians and people that are struggling with 'wokeness' and social justice" to highlight "how silly and ridiculous our world has become."
Below are transcriptions from the video (mostly via Blabbermouth), where Cooper broke down his thinking into various categories in an effort to tie his ideas together.
UPDATE: John Cooper has issued a response video clarifying his comments regarding Hitler, the Grammys and Cardi B. That video is available at the bottom of the page.
"I did not compare Cardi B to Hitler, and I did not compare her performance to Hitler or any other dictator, and I certainly didn't compare the Grammys or the music industry or any other artist, for any reason, to any dictator," said Cooper, in part.
Get the full details here.
On Dr. Seuss
Cooper first addressed the cessation of the sale of six particular books by late author Dr. Seuss on eBay, which aligns with the platform's long-standing values of thwarting the sale of offensive items. Currently, the site's Offensive Materials Policy defines these materials as "items that promote or glorify racial, sexual or religious intolerance, or promote organizations that hold such views."
The decision to pull these books from publication was made directly by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, who issued a statement that read (via BBC), "These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalogue represents and supports all communities and families."
"They are just too much for anybody to even be allowed to buy; they're being yanked down from all the bookstores and stuff like that. It's just too much; it's too evil. So you can't go on eBay and buy it — too evil," said Cooper, "But you can, and must, applaud the sexual degradation of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion simulating sex together on the Grammys."
"This is the perfect example," he affirmed. "You must celebrate it. In fact, if you don't celebrate it, then you're actually a bad person, and you kind of, like, don't love people. You're actually not nice. This is the perfect example, you guys."
Cooper later referred to this concept as a "silly, stupid microcosm," which is expanded on further down the page.
On The Bible, Redefining Good and Evil
From there, he quoted a Bible verse from the book of Isaiah to make his point clear — "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil."
Cooper said this is currently happening and has "been happening in America for the last few years like crazy — especially the last five years, especially during the last year."
It is unclear exactly which events of the last year Cooper is referring to in regards to good masquerading as evil, and evil masquerading as good.
When wondering aloud why someone would want to flip these values as such, he said, "It's simple: because they just redefine the terms. The question is, who is going to define what is good, and who is gonna define what is evil?"
It is also unclear who "they" is in Cooper's assessment.
On Dictators and Adolf Hitler
After posing that question for viewers to ponder, Cooper looked back beyond the last few years to 1930s and 1940s Germany, where Hitler rose to power and served as Germany's dictator.
"Every dictator in history says that what they were doing was good. That's what they believe," he said. "If you go back and you read some of Hitler's speeches, he's, like, 'I'm gonna set people free — free from the bondage of the Ten Commandments.' In his mind, he's a liberator."
"It's always like that, you guys. All you do is you just redefine evil and you redefine good. That's what's happening right now on the Grammys," Cooper suggested, before bringing his talking point back into focus.
On Madonna's Grammys/MTV VMAs Performances and Virtue
Cooper did acknowledge that the Grammys have "always been oversexualized," as has music in general and Hollywood.
He then cited the two differences as, "Number one: this is just a step beyond what we've seen. That's all. I mean, you're right — it has always been that way. Fine. This is pretty overt, all right? This is pretty over-the-top stuff."
The second difference, which Skillet's frontman called the "biggest" can be traced back to pop star Madonna's televised awards show performances.
"20 years ago, when Madonna did it," began Cooper before venturing off in a different direction of thought, "In fact, Madonna was really pushed into stardom from a performance like this. I can't remember if it was Grammys or was it MTV Awards. I don't really remember, but I watched a documentary on it a few years ago on Netflix; I can't remember what it was. She did this performance where she was simulating self-sex and rolling all around on the stage."
Returning to the idea of differences, he continued, "The difference was this: nobody said that she was virtuous for doing it. That's a major difference, you guys. She was doing it because it was a climate of hedonism — it was a climate of sex, drugs [and] rock and roll. That's the motto of my generation and the generation before me — sex, drugs, rock and roll. It's a rebellion. It was a revolt against Christian values, traditional values, even just Western values in general. The family values — it was a revolt against traditional sexuality."
"But it wasn't because they were virtuous, elaborated Cooper. "Nobody looked at Madonna and was, like, 'She's such a virtuous person. I really want my daughter to live this way.' Nobody did that. That's the difference."
Cooper then branded Madonna's act as "shock rock" and suggested that Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's performance did not fall under this category and instead just redefines virtue.
"So we're taking paganism," he went on, "and we're not just saying, 'Yeah, I'm gonna get famous 'cause I'm willing to be into paganism and hedonism and idolatry and sexual degradation,' and this and that and the other. No — we're saying, 'I'm doing all those things because I know what virtue is. I know what morality is. I define morality.' That is what it means to call evil good, and good evil."
On Race, Cancel Culture and Progressive Christianity
"There are so many woke Christians out there, liberal Christians, my progressive Christian friends literally struggling every week," lamented Cooper.
"Every week there's a new social argument. I don't care what it's about — critical race theory, race stuff in general, marching with BLM [Black Lives Matter], Meghan Markle... if you go on Twitter and say you don't like the Meghan Markle interview with Oprah, you just might get canceled," he urged. "Susan [edit: Sharon] Osbourne got canceled. Famous people are getting canceled for holding the wrong views on this stuff, okay?"
Unwilling to find a common ground, Cooper stressed, "There are a lot of Christians struggling, going, "Maybe historical Christianity, maybe that's not right, maybe it's just mean, maybe there's a middle ground that we can have with the world." No, no, no. There is no middle ground. There is no peace with the world. Why? Because the world has redefined what being good is. They've redefined what evil is. This ain't 1980, 1990."
On the Culture Shift in America
Cooper bemoaned the shift in culture from the 1980s and 1990s which still clung, in his estimation, largely to Judeo-Christian ethic and morality, which was "kind of the norm."
"We are in the new morality now. We're in the new morality that will be defined by intersectionality," he added, noting he would be branded a misogynist and racist for speaking out "against a powerful, strong Black woman."
"That is the power of intersectionality injected into the conversation of morality. I would encourage Christians to say this: "This is a silly, stupid microcosm." Anybody can look at this and say, 'That is not morality,' but we are forced to applaud it."
He urged that this type of society "that is going to bring the judgment of God... and he will be right to do so. We are a society that deserves the judgment of God. Why? Not only have we not adhered to His rules, not only have we not rebelled against His rules, we are now celebrating our rules as the new sovereign power in American life. It's pretty dark stuff, isn't it?"
Watch Cooper's reaction video in full below.