Grammys get political as Clinton

● Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar scoop major music awards ● Ed Sheeran wins two Grammys, but misses the ceremony

replied. Donald Trump Jr and US United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley both slammed her appearance on the music awards show via social media.

The president’s son tweeted: “Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt at the Grammys seems like a great consolation prize for losing the presidency.”

He later added: “The more Hillary goes on television the more the American people realize how awesome it is to have @realdonaldtrump in office.” Ms Haley wrote: “I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.”

However, plenty of viewers appeared to disagree with one calling the skit the “best segment of the night”.

It was not Ms Clinton’s first appearance at the Grammys. In 1997, she won for reading her book It Takes a Village.

The skit partially overshadowed big nights for Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar, who were the Grammy’s big winners as Jay-z missed out in all eight categories he was nominated in.

Mars picked up the prestigious album of the year, pipping Jay-z and Lamar as well as Lorde and Childish Gambino.

Lamar opened the Grammys with a politically charged performance that culminated in him pretending to shoot his backing dancers.

The rapper was joined by U2 and comedian Dave Chappelle for the performance, which was titled “This is satire by Kendrick Lamar”.

It included a medley of songs, starting with XXX before moving into DNA and finishing with King’s Dead. The performance came against a backdrop of the US flag and marching troops.

Lamar later backed Jay-z for president as he beat the rapper to win the Grammy for best rap album.

Ed Sheeran flew the flag for Britain in scooping two Grammys and announced his cat was doing a “celebratory dance”. Divide, the UK singer’s third album, won best pop vocal album, while his hit track Shape Of You was crowned best pop solo performance.

Sheeran, 26, was not at the star-studded ceremony. But posting a snap of his pet cat on Instagram, he wrote: “Woke up to the news I won two Grammys last night. Thank you!”

British musicians had been sparse among the nominees at the Grammys, with Sam Smith and former One Direction stars Harry Styles and Niall Horan overlooked.

Scottish DJ Calvin Harris missed out on the producer of the year prize – his sole nomination.

Zayn Malik’s nomination alongside Taylor Swift for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack I Don’t Wanna Live Forever had been nominated for best song written for visual media, but the award went to Hamilton creator Linmanuel Miranda for How Far I’ll Go from the film Moana.

Janelle Monae called “Time’s Up” on harassment and abuse of power as she introduced a moving Grammy performance from Kesha.

The actress and singer labelled Kesha “fearless”, with the pop star joined by an all-star ensemble including Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, and Andra Day.

Pink’s daughter meanwhile fulfilled a dream at the Grammy Awards as her pop star mother introduced her to Rihanna. The singer’s six-year-old, Willow, joined her at the event.