As the post-#MeToo world evolves, it’s never been more important for allies to use their platforms to spread messages of support. Last night, British pop rock group The 1975 did just that when they called out the systemic sexism of the music industry while accepting their BRIT Award for Best British Group.
After a brief thank you, lead singer Matthew Healy read an excerpt from a Guardian article from the paper’s deputy music editor, Laura Snapes, that addressed the recent allegations against Ryan Adams and the prevalence of ‘beta-male misogyny’ in the alternative scene. “In music, male misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of ‘difficult artists,’” Healy quoted. “While women are treated as hysterics who ‘don’t understand art.’” After another quick bit of thanks, the band left the stage, leaving the audience to marinate on the message of the article.
In the New York Times exposé Snapes’ article was addressing, Adams was accused of, among other things, psychologically abusing and manipulating ex-wife Mandy Moore, former collaborator Phoebe Bridgers, and many others while promising to further their careers. Perhaps more disturbing than the article’s content, however, was the lack of surprise with which the allegations were met. Several colleagues seemed to either suspect or already know these things about Adams, and yet he was repeatedly given the benefit of the doubt. In fact, the quote Healy read was actually repurposed from an earlier article of Snapes’ from 2015, which she wrote after Sun Kill Moon’s Mark Kozelek told an audience at a show that she was “a ‘bitch’ who wanted to have his babies.” Unchecked sexism in the industry, this fact demonstrates, isn’t a new thing.
Clearly, The 1975 have had enough of it and aren’t afraid to eschew standard award show pleasantries to talk about it. “I am encouraged and grateful that a powerful male musician used his platform to talk about the double standards facing male and female musicians in front of the most powerful people in the British music industry,” Snapes said in an email to Mashable. We couldn’t agree more.
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