ABC Dumps Glambert from Kimmel, New Year’s Eve

Controversial American Music Awards performance prompts network to cancel two planned appearance by the “American Idol” runner-up.

ABC’s jihad against naughty boy Adam Lambert continues– and the Twitterverse ain’t happy about it.

Lambert got into hot water for his over-the-top performance at last month’s American Music Awards. (If you somehow don’t know what he did, details are here.)

In the immediate aftermath of the AMAs, ABC News nixed Lambert’s planned live appearance on "Good Morning America." Smart move, given Lambert’s propensity for unpredictability.

But now, according to a statement posted to Glambert’s Twitter feed, ABC also has told the former "American Idol" he’s no longer welcome on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and Dick Clark’s "New Year’s Rockin’ Eve."

"Yes, sadly friends, ABC has cancelled my appearances on Kimmel and NYE," La Lambert wrote, adding a little frowny-face emoticon. "Don’t blame them. It’s the FCC heat."
ABC confirmed the Kimmel cancellation.

"We decided not to move forward with the booking at this time," a network spokeswoman said.

ABC hasn’t officially announced guests for Dick Clark’s New Year’s show (hosted by Ryan Seacrest), but Lambert told Billboard a few weeks ago he was doing the show. Clark’s production company is behind both "Rockin’ Eve" and the AMAs.

There’s precedent for artists being "disappeared" by networks.

After Janet Jackson did her Super Bowl striptease, she was disinvited from the Grammys by CBS. (Her partner in "crime," Justin Timberlake, was allowed to perform, however.)

But that was a live show. The two ABC apperances were to have been pre-taped, allowing the network to edit out any stunts Lambert might pull.

Lambert is trying to stay positive.

"I AM doing Leno though," he tweeted. "And lookin into something for NYE."

Don’t be surprised if Team Adam is talking to Fox or NBC right now.

Meanwhile, Lambert’s tweet prompted a probably predictable wave of outrage among his fans on Twitter — so much so that, for a while Wednesday night, ABC was a trending topic on the service. And it wasn’t because of the network’s awesome Wednesday comedies.

"ABC is under no LEGAL pressure 2 cancel. Cowardice & ignorance are at the heart of this. Boycott ABC, sponsors," tweeted @infidelle. 

Added @laughincryin: "The woman-beating Chris Brown will still appear on 20/20 next week. That show airs on @ABC. Aren’t you a proud network?"

Many of the tweets were tagged with the hashmark #AdamBringsChange (an acronym-based tweak at ABC) or #Boycott ABC.

It’ll be interesting to see how the power of Twitter and the internet matches up against the Parents Television Council, which has already launched one of its classic "Die Network Die" campaigns against ABC for daring to air a live TV show that contained racy content at 10:55 p.m., which of course makes it off-limits to FCC oversight for decency standards. 

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