The Weeknd calls Grammys ‘corrupt’ despite rule change

The Weeknd has responded to the rule changes for the Grammy Awards announced by the Recording Academy last Friday — primarily a change that eliminates the “secret” nomination-review committees that played a key role in his being shut out of all nominations for the 2021 awards, despite having one of the biggest albums and the most-streamed single of the year with After Hours and Blinding Lights, respectively.

“The trust has been broken for so long between the Grammy organisation and artists that it would be unwise to raise a victory flag,” he says, adding that he will continue to withhold his music from consideration for the awards. However, he does say that the move is “an important start”.

“I think the industry and public alike need to see the transparent system truly at play for the win to be celebrated, but it’s an important start,” he continues. “I remain uninterested in being a part of the Grammys, especially with their own admission of corruption for all these decades. I will not be submitting in the future.”

His manager, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, added: “No change comes without a voice heard. I’m just proud of Abel for standing up for what he believes in. I was in a shock when all this happened but now I see it clearly, and I’m glad we stood for our beliefs.”

While there was no stated “admission of corruption” from the Grammys in announcing the rule change, in an interview with Variety late Friday, interim Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr said he had been working to eliminate the committees for months before the Weeknd snub. Mason declined to speculate whether that situation may have influenced the final decision — which was made by a vote from 44 members of the Academy’s board of trustees — but there is little question that it played a role, and he did say, “Any time an artist, especially one of that stature, calls our process into question or thinks something is unfair… the Academy is of course going to be affected by that, and want to work to make things better.”

Reps for the Recording Academy did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment early Monday.

When the Weeknd was bafflingly excluded from the 2021 nominations, many people, including the Weeknd and Slaiby, essentially said they believed self-interest within the committees to be the culprit (although there was no committee for the Pop category, one of three where he would have been a likely candidate).

However, Mason repeatedly stressed that the move was the unbiased decision of the nomination-review committees.

“There’s no agendas in there, there is no ‘let’s snub this person or that person’,” he told Variety after the nominations were announced in November. “It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence’.”