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Grammy #MeToo Crowd Cheers Clinton Two Days After Report on Her Ignoring Advice to Fire Alleged Sexual Harasser

Burns Strider, far left, and Clintons / Twitter screenshot
January 29, 2018

Two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received loud cheers and applause during a "surprise" appearance at the 60th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night, two days after reports surfaced that she ignored the advice of her 2008 presidential campaign manager to fire one of her senior advisers, who was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a younger female campaign staffer.

The New York Times reported Friday that Patti Solis Doyle, the campaign manager during Clinton's 2008 presidential run, recommended that the candidate fire her faith adviser, Burns Strider, but Clinton instead ordered him to undergo counseling and docked several weeks of his pay.

Two days later, during a planned segment at the Grammys, late-night comedian and host James Corden had multiple musicians read portions of Michael Wolff's new controversial book, Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House. At the end of the video, Clinton made a cameo to read a portion of the book in an attempt to win a Spoken Word Grammy.

After reading about Trump's preference for fast food, Corden told Clinton that she had the Grammy "in the bag." Clinton was competing against musicians like Cher, Snoop Dogg, and DJ Khaled.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically for Clinton after Corden said she had won the Grammy, prompting the host to say, "That might have been the biggest cheer of the night."

While Clinton's cameo received loud applause at the music awards show in New York City, the crowd received backlash on Twitter for cheering for her after the Times report.

Hundreds of people in the crowd, including performers, were wearing white roses to show their support for the #MeToo Movement. The movement emerged last October after media reports revealed several allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in the media and Hollywood.

Clinton acknowledged Friday night that she knew about the accusations against Strider and said she was "dismayed" when she learned of them, but was "heartened" about the 30-year-old campaign staffer coming forward at the time.

"A story appeared today about something that happened in 2008. I was dismayed when it occurred, but was heartened the young woman came forward, was heard, and had her concerns taken seriously and addressed," Clinton tweeted.

"I called her today to tell her how proud I am of her and to make sure she knows what all women should: we deserve to be heard," she added.