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When the award season arrives, it brings with itself a breeze of celebration, snubs, and rivalries that are hard to get through. While some celebrities love the honors they are bestowed upon, others are heartbroken over not even being nominated.
And with the music industry’s biggest award night right around the corner, we have rounded out the celebrities who have openly criticized and spoken against the Grammys.
Read on to know the handful of A-list musicians and celebrities who boycotted the Grammys and chose to remain outside the golden glory of the award night.
Hailed as the King of Hip-Hop,Jay-Zdoes not shy away from putting Grammys in their place even though he has won the award a whopping 24 times.
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The rapper-singer has had a bone to pick with the organization for years since they repeatedly ignore prominent Black artists and refuse to give them the praise they deserve.
In 1998, Jay-Z completely boycotted the Grammys after DMX didn’t get a nomination despite both his albums being chart-toppers in the same year. Another thing that seemingly irksJay-Z is his wife Beyoncénever winning Album of the Year.
Aside from the nomination drama,Bad Bunnywas upset by the Grammys when closed captions for his Spanish performances were not showcased at the televised version of the celebration. The captions merely read, “Speaking in Non-English,” which Bad Bunny went on to call so “f*cked up.” He further toldVanity Fair,
It’s ugly to say that I saw it as normal. Then it was like, wow, wait a minute, what the hell? Why don’t they have someone? Knowing that I was going to be there. … I sing for those who want to listen to me and those who understand me.
Hissongs couldn’t reach a wider audiencedue to the language barrier but Bad Bunny hoped that the Grammys would provide closed captions so everyone could understand what he was singing about.
The Weeknd
In the yearAfter Hoursand the singleBlinding Lightswere released, one would thinkThe Weeknd’sname would be on everyone’s tongues but apparently not. The Grammys did not give the singer a single nomination in 2021 which didn’t sit well with many fans and The Weeknd himself. He took to social media and claimed (viaSheKnows),
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…
Not just that, it seems like the drama got heated up further when The Weeknd was uninvited by the Grammys despite having a performance planned. Talk about a slap in the face, let alone a snub.
Machine Gun Kelly
Another prominent singer who was conveniently kept off the nomination list at the Grammys in 2022 isMachine Gun Kelly. Despite making headlines with his albumTickets to my Downfall,Kelly did not receive a single nomination and expressed his frustration on social media.
At the 65th Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Album for his work Mainstream Sellout but he didn’t win.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, the Grammys have been accused of also overlooking women artists when it comes to nominations and wins. The singer P!nk has spoken freely against this discrimination, especially when Recording President Neil Portnow claimed that women need to step up.
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The singer replied (via SheKnows),
Women in music don’t need to ‘Step Up.’ Women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT.
And every year before this. When we celebrate and honor the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.
P!nk has seldom shied away from speaking her mind and this instance was nothing out of the ordinary. She has often championed women’s empowerment and wishes to see a more equitable society.
Zayn Malik
Former One DirectionbandmateZayn Malikshed light on another concerning aspect of the Grammys – the corruption and underhanded activities that supposedly get you on the fast track for nominations. Claiming he might just start sending the panel a basket of confectionary, Malik tweeted-
Fuck the grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations. Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionary.
All such artists have urged the Grammys to be more transparent and inclusive in their approaches when it comes to the nomination and winning process. A change in the Grammy’s standard procedure is yet to be seen.
Ariana Grande
TheInto Yousinger might be riding high on the successful waves ofWicked, but her issues with the Grammys seem to linger still.Ariana Grandereportedly felt that her creativity was being stifled when she was preparing to perform at the event in 2019.
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When the Grammys tried twisting the story to portray she was not ready to perform in time, Grande clapped back with aresponse,
I can pull together a performance overnight and you know that, Ken [Ehrlich]. It was when my creativity & self-expression was stifled by you, that I decided not to attend.
Moreover, Grande expressed anger at her late boyfriend Mac Miller not getting a posthumous award despite the Grammys inviting his parents to attend the event.
Vidhi Narula
Content Editor / Reviewer
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With over 4 years of content writing experience, Vidhi is adept at creating articles in entertainment, lifestyle, finance, travel, and culinary spaces. She has a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication that helped her understand the intricacies of news writing and reporting. Vidhi’s work has been published on numerous platforms from Collider and The Cinemaholics to The Statesman and Nomadic Road.
