Adam Lambert on Taylor Swift's video: “She's doing what we want an ally to do”

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TAS Rights ManagementOne of the most talked-about moments of Pride Month, which ends on Sunday, was the release of Taylor Swift‘s video for “You Need to Calm Down,” starring a slew of LGBTQ celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, the Queer Eye guys, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Adam Lambert

While some in the queer community have questioned whether Taylor is trying to co-opt them for her own personal gain, Adam Lambert says that, “in the grand scheme of things,” the video’s a good thing.

“I think the ripple effect of a message like this to young fans that might not have exposure to the queer community is really positive,” he tells ABC Radio. “And…yes, she is putting this message in a video for a pop song. And yes, the pop music world wants to sell. But also she’s putting her money where her mouth is and she’s creating conversation.”

“She put up a petition, she’s getting political, she’s getting involved,” he adds. “So I feel like, what else could we ask of her? She’s doing what we want an ally to do.”

Adam says Taylor asked him to be in the video at the last minute, when both of them were appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on the same day.

“She came into the dressing room and she was like, “Hey, we’re set up in the back to do this ‘tattoo on Ellen’ bit. Do you want to be the tattoo artist?’ And I said, ‘Yes, sure,'” Adam recalls. “So I just rolled in and did it. It was really fun.”

In the video, Adam tattoos the words “Cruel Summer” on Ellen’s arm — but Taylor didn’t tell him what the words meant.

“Still don’t know,” he laughs. “I think it’s a song. I dunno, I’m not sure!”

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