The Recording Academy Responds To The Weeknd Calling The Grammys Corrupt
Yesterday after getting snubbed by the Grammys. The Weeknd tweeted out his thoughts on the show.
He wrote, “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/1331394452447870977
Per Billboard, sources close to The Weeknd went to the press to air out their grievances about him not being nominated. They also alluded to the reason having to do with the singer performing at the Super Bowl.
They said, “There were many conversations between the Grammys and The Weeknd team about his performance slated for the 2021 Grammys. There was an ultimatum given resulting in a struggle over him also playing the Super Bowl that went on for some time and was eventually agreed upon that he would perform at both events.”
“The Grammys had their nomination ballots as of Oct. 12 and had all these convos with The Weeknd team in the past month and today on Nov. 24, The Weeknd had not one nomination and is now completely ignored by the Grammys. This was the year that they were supposed to rise up. What is the process and where is the transparency?”
Now the Recording Academy has responded.
Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, released a statement, which reads, “We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling.”
“His music this year was excellent…We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before …To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process.”
Afterward, Mason also spoke directly with Billboard in a Q&A about this controversy. When asked about the Super Bowl rumor, he once again clarified that that show had nothing to do with the Grammys.
He said, “No. First of all, the Super Bowl performance is [one week] after our show, so at no time would we be upset if he were to perform on the Super Bowl…Our show producer, Ben Winston, and CBS had some preliminary conversations. We would have loved to have him on our stage. I think he was working toward that happening.”
He also gave his opinion of The Weeknd saying the show was corrupt. He stated, “It saddened me. I try to empathize with where that came from, but it was difficult to hear. I can understand he’s disappointed [at being shut out]. Everybody at the academy understands that he’s disappointed. I was personally surprised that he was not nominated.”
Read the full interview on the Billboard website.
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