The Canadian hitmaker previously criticized the Recording Academy after he nabbed zero nod at the upcoming event despite his record-breaking and critically-acclaimed album 'After Hours'.
- Jan 8, 2021
AceShowbiz - The tension between The Weeknd and the Recording Academy seemingly continues to heat up. According to interim Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr., the "After Hours" artist has yet to be asked to be included in the line-up of the performers at the award-giving event, which is set to be held on March 14.
In an interview with Variety, Harvey was asked if The Weeknd, who was snubbed at the award event despite his successful "Blinding Lights" track, would be more involved at the upcoming event. To that, Harvey responded, "Not that I'm aware of."
During the interview, Harvey also addressed the delay due to rising coronavirus cases in the United States, especially in Los Angeles. "Doing it on January 31st, with the numbers and what was happening in L.A., just didn't feel like the right move," he explained.
"We felt, from what we're hearing from government offices and health-care experts, that the next two weeks are going to be extreme here in L.A., and after that, we'll see some improvement in the numbers. Obviously, we're not going to be free of Covid and I don't think the vaccine is going to be widely available by March 14, but we think there will be better circumstances once we get past these next two weeks," he went on saying.
Grammy Awards announced on Tuesday, January 5 that the show, which will be hosted by Trevor Noah, will be pushed back. "The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do," read a statement signed by interim Grammy chief Harvey Mason jr., CBS Executive VP Jack Sussman and the show's executive producer, Ben Winston.
Back to The Weeknd, the Canadian hitmaker criticized the Recording Academy after he nabbed zero nod despite his record-breaking year on the charts and critical and commercial acclaim with the album "After Hours" and hits like "Blinding Lights". "The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency...," he demanded on November 24, 2020 after the nominations were announced.
In response to the criticism, Harvey said in a statement, "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."
Shutting down speculations that the snub had something to do with The Weeknd headlining the Super Bowl, Harvey clarified, "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."
