Names and faces
The Latin Grammy Award ceremony turned into a love letter to Puerto Rico, with several artists dedicating their performances and awards to the island hard hit by Hurricane Maria. Singer-songwriter Luis Fonsi’s global hit, “Despacito,” was the night’s big winner, making good on all four of its nominations, including record and song of the year. “This song is a hymn to Puerto Rico,” Fonsi said backstage. “Everything I do, and everything I will do, now more than ever, is to continue celebrating my island, my culture, my homeland and my music, and to make sure the public knows that Puerto Rico needs help.” Lin-Manuel Miranda was recognized for his artistic and philanthropic work with the President’s Merit Award. He thanked his wife, his parents, his many collaborators and his Puerto Rican roots. He said he intended to remind the U.S. government that the residents of the island territory “are human beings, too.” Thursday’s ceremony, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and broadcast live on Univision, opened with a moment of silence for Puerto Rico, followed by a performance by one of its native sons. Rapper Residente wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the Puerto Rican flag as he performed his song “Hijos del Canaveral” (“Sons of Canaveral”), a tribute to his country. He also won two awards: urban album for his self-titled solo debut and urban song for “Somos Anormales” (“We Are Abnormal”).
Supermodel Gigi Hadid said Friday she will not be walking the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in Shanghai next week, a few months after Chinese Internet users accused her of racist behavior. Hadid said in a post on her Twitter account: “I’m so bummed I won’t be able to make it to China this year. Love my VS family, and will be with all my girls in spirit!!” Hadid did not give a reason and Victoria’s Secret refused to comment on the issue. The surprise exit comes months after a video of Hadid triggered an outpouring of criticism on Chinese social networks. It showed Hadid squinting in a way that appeared to be a reference to a stereotype about Asian facial features. Hadid responded by apologizing in September on China’s popular Twitter-like microblog site, Weibo. “I have learned to be very careful of how my actions can come off or be portrayed, and I’m hopeful you’ll accept my apology,” the post said. It was not immediately clear whether Hadid had been denied a visa. Asked about this at a regular briefing, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said he was unclear about the issue.