The 2021 Grammy Award Nominations left many shocked when the Weeknd- one of the most commercially and critically successful artists of the past year, whose single Blinding Lights just became the first song ever to spend a full year in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 get the snub. The artist and the song were not nominated for any awards. The suspicious snub, the biggest in Grammy history, reportedly was explained as the work of ‘secret committees’ of industry veterans, executives and artists who determine the nominees in certain, but not all, categories.
Now, the Weeknd has issued a statement saying, “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.” The work of the secret committees were singled out for alleged insider dealing in a legal complaint filed by the ousted president/CEO of the Recording Academy, Deborah Dugan last year. She served only eight months last year. The Weeknd had performed at the Super Bowl last month and let the controversy die down but now he came forward again on Thursday before the Grammys to say that he will boycott the awards, at least until change is initiated.
The controversy does not die down here as there are several conspiracy theories regarding the snub as well as the legal complaint filed by Dugan that alleges that some board members on the ‘secret committees’ represent on have relationships with the nominated artists and the Board uses these committees as an opportunity to push forward and manipulate the nominations process to ensure that some songs and artists are nominated when the producer of the Grammys wants a particular song performed during the show.
Interim Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr, who replace Dugan declined to find fault with the organization’s selection process and told an online portal, “It really just comes down to the voting body that decides. We have eight nomination slots to fill in (the “Big Four” categories: Best Album, Song, Record and New Artist), five in others, and the voters vote for their favorites. Some of it was (decided by) the (secret) nominating committees and some was the voting body, because some of the awards he was eligible for did not have nominating committees, so it was a combination of both. But again, it’s unfortunate, we never like to see somebody as talented as the Weeknd get left out or feel left out. It’s not something any of us are happy about.”
(Source: Variety/New York Times)
