A week ago, The Weeknd reacted to getting completely snubbed by the Grammy nominations by saying that the organization is “corrupt” anyway and that he, his fans, and the music industry all deserve more transparency from the secretive Grammy nominators. After he expressed his frustration, reports came out that The Weeknd had been asked to perform at the Grammys, but that the event’s producers initially weren’t thrilled with the fact that he’d be playing the Super Bowl Halftime Show a week later, which some theorized may have contributed to the Grammys choosing not to give him any nominations—thereby effectively booting him from the event entirely, supposedly as a form of payback. Now, the similarly snubbed Halsey has offered her own reaction to the snubbing, suggesting that the Grammys are “often” all about “the right handshakes” (a.k.a. “bribes).
Halsey made her statement in an Instagram story (via Entertainment Weekly), describing the Grammy nominations as an “elusive process” that often comes down to “private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine,” and “bribes that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not-bribes.’” After that, it might also depend on “committing to exclusive TV performances and making sure you help the Academy make their millions in advertising on the night of the show.” She adds that “perhaps sometimes” it’s about “music or quality or culture,” but clearly she doesn’t think that’s always the case.
Halsey also says The Weeknd and her album Manic deserved better, and she hopes future Grammys will include “more transparency or reform,” though she figures the post will “blacklist” her anyway.