Despite his impressive year, The Weeknd was shut out of the Grammys after receiving zero nominations this year.
Keeping his response short and sweet, Abel hopped on social media on Tuesday (November 25) to slam the show. “The Grammys remain corrupt,” The Weeknd wrote in a social media post after After Hours, along with its string of hits, failed to snag any honors. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
The Weeknd’s message arrived after TMZ reported that the chart-topper’s reps and Grammy executives got into heated negotiations. As per the celebrity gossip outlet, the singer was given an ultimatum to perform at the Grammys or the Super Bowl. The two sides came to an agreement that he could perform at both affairs, which air one week from each other on CBS. However, the conversations were apparently too much and made Grammy honchos upset.
In a statement via ET, Recording Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. spoke about The Weeknd’s lack of nominations. “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,” Mason said.
“We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the GRAMMY stage the weekend before,” he continued. “Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. 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. All GRAMMY nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all.”
Check out his Instagram post here