It’s been a few days since the Grammy nominations were announced, but fallouts from snubs made by the Recording Academy continues to come in. The latest artist to speak out against the Recording Academy is singer Halsey.
Variety reports that the 26-year-old singer posted on her Instagram account to call out the Grammys and the alleged “bribes” that go on behind the scenes, as well as the politics and commitments needed to secure a nomination.
According to her post, behind-the-scenes private performances, campaigning, and “bribes” made with plausible deniability are a big part of what can get an artist that coveted nomination. She also claimed that artists who do get nominated have to commit to performing at the ceremony so that advertisers will give money to the Recording Academy.
What Halsey is saying echoes claims made by The Weeknd, who did not receive any Grammy nominations. The Weeknd -- real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye -- tweeted that the Recording Academy was “corrupt” and demanded transparency from the organization.
One of The Weeknd’s tweets referenced the floated around rumors that he was not nominated for any awards by the Recording Academy because negotiations with regards to his performance at the show had grown heated.
According to the rumor, The Weeknd was asked to give up his Super Bowl performance and perform exclusively for the Grammy Awards. A compromise was supposedly reached, but Grammy organizers were said to have been unhappy that the negotiations were so heated, resulting in The Weeknd being shut out of any nominations.
Billboard reports that Halsey also claimed that the Grammy Awards are only sometimes about the “music or quality or culture” and that her album Manic and The Weeknd deserve better from the Recording Academy.
Halsey went on to say that she is thrilled for her nominated friends -- such as pop superstars BTS -- but that reforms and further transparency should be put in place at the Recording Academy.
Aside from Halsey, several other musicians have also spoken out about the snubs that The Weeknd received. Both Kid Cudi and music producer Boi-1da declared that The Weeknd had been “robbed,” while Tinashe used trash can emojis under a tweet about The Weeknd’s lack of nominations.
Of course, fans of The Weeknd also expressed their displeasure. His tweet first alleging corruption within the Recording Academy has now garnered 34,000 responses, while his second tweet alluding to the negotiations with the Recording Academy now has more than 8,000 comments.