When performing live for Today Show, the keyboardist for Macy Gray was required to turn his t-shirt inside out. The shirt worn by the artist said “Free Britney Griner” across the chest, which did not go over well with NBC’s top brass. The shirt had the words “Endless Love” in huge white letters across the front, but because the keyboardist was instructed to reverse it inside out for the on-air performance, they only saw him wearing a simple black top.
The t-shirt worn by Keyboardist Billy Wes was emblazoned with the message, “I’m a huge fan of Britney Griner.” He arrived at the NBC studio in New York City dressed to show the world his powerful statement on his t-shirt. However, because he refused to reverse it, the people in charge of Today Show denied him permission to wear it on television, demanding that he turn it inside out instead.
The producers of the show “said I couldn’t wear it”, he Wes to TMZ. It’s unclear who told Wes he couldn’t wear the top; however, it’s clear that someone working for Today was an authoritative figure.
Following the incident, neither Wes nor Gray has given a clear explanation for why he wasn’t allowed to wear his t-shirt on the show. “I don’t think it’s political,” says Macy Gray.
“It’s a human being that’s in a really horrible situation, and there are people that have the power to do something about it, and that’s what they should do,” Macy Gray said.
On the same day Britney Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in Russia, Wes wore the t-shirt. She now faces a possible ten years in a severe Russian jail owing to her crime. Griner, an NBA WNBA player, has been detained in Russian custody since February. Now that celebrities like Wes are applying pressure on the Biden Administration to get her released back to the United States, which is where she was born.
Griner pled guilty in court. It was the second day of her trial.
“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Griner added, in English, which was then translated to Russian for the court.
Griner was detained at Moscow airport while traveling with two vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. Russian authorities have kept her in jail since they discovered marijuana, which has been decriminalized in a number of states in the United States. Russia, on the other hand, continues to harshly punish those who use marijuana.
President Biden called Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, to offer his support and assurance that he was doing everything in his power to secure her husband’s release from a Russian jail. In a letter addressed to Biden, Griner wrote how scared she was that Russian authorities would never allow her to return home.
However, whether or not Vladimir Putin would be willing to collaborate in order to help the player return home remains to be seen.
