After an astonishing upset late on Tuesday in which he received zero Grammy nods, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd has accused the Grammys of being corrupt.
The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, has had a notable year in terms of his music after dominating the charts with singles off of his album After Hours. However, he was left out of the Grammys roster, much to the surprise of critics and fans who anticipated him to carry the 2021 awards season who proceeded to bash the Recording Academy for the historic snub.
The singer himself then took to Twitter to level an accusation, writing, “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.”
According to Variety, the transparency he is calling for refers to the nomination process that is famously kept secret; the identities of the people on the committees that select the nominees are not revealed.
A source close to Variety hinted that the snub may be a result of contention between The Weeknd’s team and the Grammys, who reportedly were at odds over him performing at the Grammy ceremony as well as the Super Bowl halftime show a week later.
Chief of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason, jr. subsequently responded to the accusations, refuting the claims.
“We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling,” he said, adding, “Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists.”
“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,” he further added before congratulating the nominees.
“All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence and we congratulate them all.”
