As of this morning, Diane Warren’s song, “Til It Happens To You,” has now been nominated for an Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy. Lady Gaga performed the ballad, from the documentary about campus sexual assault The Hunting Ground, at the Oscars.
But there’s something curious about the Emmy nomination. The Oscars and Grammys nominated both Warren and Gaga for their work on the song. The Emmys? Only Warren. So why is that? According to a representative for the Television Academy, you must have 20 percent cue sheet credit to be eligible for the category. (Cue sheets break down artists’ contributions.) Gaga did not submit herself because she did not meet that requirement at 10 percent. Warren, on the other hand, had a 90 percent cue sheet credit.
Now, interestingly, this comes after Linda Perry raised a stink about just how much Gaga put into “Til It Happens To You” in the lead up to the Oscars. In tweets that are now deleted (via Billboard), Perry argued that Gaga’s credit was a political move to garner attention for the song: “I credit Diane for writing this song, it is her experience her pain her words. That’s it kids.” Warren then came to her collaborator’s defense, tweeting: “The song is the result of a special collaboration between myself and Lady Gaga. As Lady Gaga and I have consistently said. Til it Happens.”
Naturally, this doesn’t negate the impact of the wrenching song. At the Oscars, it was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden, and Gaga was joined on stage by survivors during her performance.
“Til It Happens To You” lost the Oscar to “Writing’s On The Wall” from Spectre and the Grammy to “Glory” from Selma. At the Emmys, it’s up against songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Empire, Galavant, and Garfunkel And Oates: Trying To Be Special.