NewsBite

Male Grammys president defends lack of female winners

ONLY one woman took home an award during the Grammy Award’s ceremony — and the Grammy President’s defence has people fuming.

Jaclyn Hendricks
2 min read
January 30, 2018 - 10:18PM
2018 Grammys in 60 seconds

MALE artists won the majority of big awards at yesterday’s Grammys, with Alessia Cara being the only woman who took home an award (for best new artist) during the 3½-hour telecast.

“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls — who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on the executive level — to step up,” Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said following the ceremony, per Variety.

Neil Portnow addressed the gender disparity after the ceremony. Picture: AP
Neil Portnow addressed the gender disparity after the ceremony. Picture: AP

Bruno Mars walked away with the awards for Record of the Year and Album of the Year, while Ed Sheeran‘s win for best pop solo performance was met with boos from the audience after the British singer, who was not present to accept the award, defeated four female nominees in the same category. The lack of female winners also sparked the #GrammysSoMale hashtag on Twitter, with singers including Pink and Charli XCX taking umbrage at Portnow’s use of the phrase ‘step up’:

“I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it’s upon us — us as an industry — to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists,” Portnow continued.

Portnow, who also wore a white rose, which represented support for the female empowerment initiatives, wasn’t the only executive to weigh in on the controversy, as Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich replied with a vague response.

Canadian singer Alessia Cara, winner of the Best New Artist award, was the only female solo winner of an award during the televised ceremony. Picture: AFP
Canadian singer Alessia Cara, winner of the Best New Artist award, was the only female solo winner of an award during the televised ceremony. Picture: AFP

“It’s not for me to talk about,” Ehrlich told Variety. “I produce the TV show.”

When asked if it was a misstep not to invite Lorde, the only female nominated for Album of the Year, to perform, as male nominees had during the show, Ehrlich stated, “I don’t know if it was a mistake. These shows are always a matter of choices, and we know we have a box and the box gets full. She had a great album, but there’s no way we can really deal with everybody.”

Bruno Mars swept the pool, including both Album of the Year and Record of the Year awards. Picture: AP
Bruno Mars swept the pool, including both Album of the Year and Record of the Year awards. Picture: AP

It was previously reported that Lorde, 21, might boycott the Grammys over the snub, but instead the Green Light singer hit the red carpet in a dress featuring a quote from Jenny Holzer’s Inflammatory Essays.

Lorde was one of many artists incorporating the essence of Time’s Up and #MeToo into her wardrobe, as Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Camila Cabello and Janelle Monáe were among the many to wear and/or clutch white roses.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission.

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/awards/grammys/male-grammys-president-defends-lack-of-female-winners/news-story/ef82a6d8c8f29ba0452964e108857aac