25 Nov Grammy Chief Says He’s “Surprised” The Weeknd Wasn’t Nominated

The nominees for the 2021 Grammy Awards were announced yesterday, and like every year, there has been a ton of speculation that not every artist was given fair consideration. Several artists have come forward on Twitter, airing out their dismay, including The Weeknd, who did not receive the nominations that he and his fans expected. “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…,” he tweeted yesterday.

Since then, rumours have circulated that the Grammys deliberately gave Abel the cold shoulder for wanting to perform at both the Grammys ceremony and at Super Bowl LV — something that was allegedly frowned upon by the Academy.

The President/Chief Executive Officer of The Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr., released a statement to Billboard, denying that The Weeknd’s request to perform at both events had anything to do with the outcome of Grammy nominations. “No. First of all, the Super Bowl performance is [one week] after our show, so at no time would we be upset if he were to perform on the Super Bowl,” Mason explained.

“Our show producer, Ben Winston, and CBS had some preliminary conversations. We would have loved to have him on our stage. I think he was working toward that happening.”

“The Weeknd has always been someone that the Academy has respected. I think a decision of that magnitude as far as the show would be made by Ben Winston,” he went on. “We’ve had him on the show [twice] in the past, and he’s always done incredible performances for us.”

He admitted that being called “corrupt” by The Weeknd “saddened” him. “I try to empathize with where that came from, but it was difficult to hear,” he said. “I can understand he’s disappointed [at being shut out]. Everybody at the academy understands that he’s disappointed. I was personally surprised that he was not nominated.”

[via]