For Millennials. By Millennials.
The feud between the Grammys and some of the artists has still not faded away, despite the Thanksgiving break. Other artists are now joining in with The Weeknd to publicly call out the Grammys. These include Drake, Elton John, Kid Cudi, Charlie Puth, and others. And now Halsey, who herself was shut out of the 2021 Grammys nominations for her album Manic, is voicing her emotions against the Grammys on Instagram.
Halsey calls the Grammys “corrupt”
In a detailed post that Halsey shared on her Instagram story since she didn’t receive a single nomination in the 2021 Grammys, just like The Weeknd. She started off with:
I’ve been thinking and wanted to choose my words carefully because a lot of people have extended sympathy and apology to me since the Grammy nominations.
Furthermore, Halsey talked about how corrupt the process of nomination is behind the scenes at the Grammys. It’s all about “performances” and the money in advertising, as she said:
The Grammys are an elusive process. It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshakes and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.’ And if you get that far, it’s about committing to exclusive TV performances and making sure you help the Academy make their millions in advertising on the night of the show.
Finally, she stated that The Weeknd deserves better and so do other artists. And now onwards, Halsey only expects greater transparency from the Grammys, saying:
Perhaps sometimes it is (!!!) but it’s not always about the music or quality or culture. Just wanted to get that off my chest. @theweeknd deserves better, and Manic did too [woman shrugging emoji] perhaps it’s unbecoming of me to say so but I can’t care anymore. While I am THRILLED for my talented friends who were recognized this year, I am hoping for more transparency or reform. But I’m sure this post will blacklist me anyway.
Accusations of corruption and irregularities from former CEO
Halsey didn’t make clear the nature of the “bribes” she was referring to. However, the nomination process and transparency have been under scrutiny since the firing of former president/CEO Deborah Dugan. She accused the Grammys of “egregious conflicts of interest, improper self-dealing by Board members and voting irregularities with respect to nominations for Grammy Awards, all made possible by the ‘boys’ club’ mentality and approach to governance at the Academy” in her legal complaint. She further accused former boss Neil Portnow of raping female artists. The Recording Academy claimed that an audit from a third party cleared them of these wrongdoings. However, other elements of the legal battle are still underway.
Related: Zayn Malik calls out Grammy Awards Biased Voters
The feud began with The Weeknd lashing out at the Grammys last week in a tweet, saying that the Recording Academy was “still corrupt”, due to the exclusion of the Weeknd from the nominations of the 2021 Grammys. This happened despite his album After Hours being the best-sold album of the year. And on top of that, his song Blinding Lights was in the top 10 of the charts in the US for the longest time in history. In response, Grammy Chief Harvey Mason Jr. said:
All the records get the fairest of fair shakes. We listen to all the music — it’s a long, arduous process and people take pride in it. The people in that room care: there’s no agendas in there, there’s no ‘let’s snub this person’ or that person. It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence’.
Related: The Weeknd rightfully calls out corrupt ‘Grammys’