This past weekend saw music's hottest stars all come together under one roof to celebrate each other's success for 2017. The 60th annual Grammy Awards had killer performances and meme-able moments that will be remembered. One particular moment has stirred some controversy and received backlash from the likes of Iggy Azalea, Pink and Janelle Monáe.
The President and CEO of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, made a speech where he said "... women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level. [They need] to step up, because I think they would be welcome.”
Iggy sent out a couple tweets that have since been deleted, but she has just recently re-tweeted more comments on Neil's statements. See below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/958434293465755649
https://twitter.com/_/status/958434866999291904
After Neil received backlash, he released a statement clarifying what he meant:
“Last night, I was asked a question about the lack of female artist representation in certain categories of this year’s Grammy Awards. Regrettably, I used two words, ‘step up,’ that, when taken out of context, do not convey my beliefs and the point I was trying to make,” he explained. “Our industry must recognize that women who dream of careers in music face barriers that men have never faced. We must actively work to eliminate these barriers and encourage women to live their dreams and express their passion and creativity through music. We must welcome, mentor, and empower them. Our community will be richer for it.”
