Los Angeles City Council President Herb
Wesson believes Adam Lambert came in second on the eighth season of
American Idol because he's gay.
Kris Allen defeated runner-up Lambert,
31, on May 20, 2009. Shortly afterward Lambert publicly came out gay
on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
presented Lambert with the City of Hope Award, which honors the
singer's gay rights advocacy, during a ceremony at City Hall.
“I am a tremendous American Idol
fan,” Wesson told Lambert. “And that day that you, I guess,
slicked your hair back, greased your hair back, put on a white tuxedo
and sung Smokey Robinson … that was a phenomenal night.”
Allen “was good, and Adam came in
second,” Wesson said.
“And the only reason why you didn't
come in first, in my opinion, is because you were gay. And that
ain't right. You should have won. It was a runaway.” (The video
is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)