Over time, the reputation of the prestigious award ceremony has been tarnished by a number of scandals that sometimes arose with the rise of social awareness in this modern society.
- March 14, 2021
AceShowbiz - Sinead O'Connor set her name in history as the only artist who turned down the Grammy, but she's certainly not the first who refused to attend the ceremony. Back in 1989, Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff boycotted the show despite being nominated for Best Rap Performance, a category that was newly added for that year's ceremony, after learning that presentation of the award for the said category wouldn't be televised.
"We don't have the problem with the Grammy as an award or the Grammys as an institution, we just had a problem with the 1989 design of the awards show," Smith told Entertainment Tonight. "We chose to boycott. We feel that it's a slap in the face." Jeff added, "They televised 16 categories and, from record sales, from the Billboard charts, from the overall public's view, there's no way you can tell me that out of 16 categories, that rap isn't in the top 16." Supporting the duo, Salt-N-Pepa, Russell Simmons and LL Cool J joined to boycott the show, with Salt-N-Pepa saying, "If they don't want us, we don't want them."
