The Weeknd slams Grammys for being corrupt after receiving no nominations for ‘After Hours’, Recording Academy Chief responds

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

November 25, 2020 - 4:35 PM IST

The 2021 Grammys nominations were announced on Tuesday, November 24. The eligibility period for award recognition was between September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020. While big names like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Dua Lipa, Roddy Ricch, BTS, Justin Bieber, and more received nods, many huge names were snubbed including The Weeknd and Halsey who had the biggest years with their albums 'After Hours' and 'Manic'.

The Weeknd slams Grammys for being corrupt after receiving no nominations for ‘After Hours’, Recording Academy Chief responds

After receiving no nominations at the 2021 Grammys, The Weeknd took to Twitter to call out the Recording Academy. “The Grammys remain corrupt,” he wrote on social media. “You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency…”

The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency...
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020

While netizens called it the biggest snub in awards history, Variety reported that The Weeknd was at odds with the Recording Academy. "The Grammys and The Weeknd’s team were at odds over him playing both the January 31 Grammy ceremony and the Super Bowl halftime show, which occurs a week later. While the negotiations grew prolonged and contentious, eventually it was agreed that he would play both events — only for the situation to become moot once the nominations were announced and he was shockingly shut out."

Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason, jr. has responded to The Weeknd's claims about lack of transparency. "Congratulations to today’s GRAMMY’s nominees who have earned their peers’ recognition for their incredible work," he said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "There were a record number of submissions in this unusual and competitive year. 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, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. 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."

“We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated,” he further said. “I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. 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.

“Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. 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. All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence,” he concluded, “and we congratulate them all.”