Orlando – As history was about to unfold on the live telecast of the Grammy Awards Jan. 26, some viewers in Orlando were stripped of the opportunity to see a live wedding ceremony featuring 34 gay and straight couples. Users of AT&T U-Verse HD lost the television signal just as couples were entering the Staples Center.
AT&T says it wasn’t a fear of advancing LGBT equality or any other form of bigotry that caused the outage. It was, a spokesperson said, a technical glitch.
AT&T spokesperson Rosie Montalvo told the Orlando Sentinal that because the company experienced a fiber cut shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, some Orlando U-verse customers may have experienced a disruption of local TV affiliate channels, including CBS, which telecast the Grammys.
“Technicians worked to quickly reroute the impacted video feed, and service was restored in about 10 minutes,” she said. “We sincerely apologize for the perceived implication of the timing. It definitely was not purposeful.”
The feed was restored as some of the couples were already exiting the floor of the Staples Center.
The show went dark just as performers Macklemore & Lewis prepared to sing their song “Same Love,” with Queen Latifah set to use her new authority to officiate at weddings to marry 33 couples. AT&T says that’s when a fiber cut left customers experiencing brief disruption of local TV affiliate channels, including CBS.
The event took place on a stage set to resemble a giant chapel with stained-glass windows. Queen Latifah was deputized specifically for the ceremony.
Mikael Audebert with the Metropolitan Business Association in Orlando said that the organization received several emails about the disruption, and many accused AT&T, or the local CBS affiliate, of censorship.
Audebert said that AT&T is an active member with the organization and shared that it was important to not rush to judgment as to the cause of the blackout.
“MBA Orlando will continue to put some pressure on the different companies involved until it gets an explanation as to what happened during the live broadcast,” a prepared statement from the MBA read. “In line with its mission statement, MBA Orlando will do everything in its powers to call upon these companies to fully investigate and hold the individuals responsible accountable, if it turned out to be a deliberate act. It will also offer assistance and guidance in training and educating employees about Diversity & Inclusion.”
