The Weeknd posted a second missive to social media on Wednesday (Nov. 25), a day after he received a surprising zero nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards.
Reports had been circling that The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) was in talks to perform at the 63rd annual awards show, which he confirmed in his follow-up statement, writing that he had been planning his performance with the Recording Academy “for weeks.” He now interprets the snub — despite his fourth album After Hours and its standout hit “Blinding Lights” smashing streaming and Billboard chart records — as a direct “You’re not invited!” message.
“Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited? In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!” he tweeted.
On Tuesday, The Weeknd initially expressed his frustration toward the Recording Academy on behalf of himself, his fans and the entire music industry. “The Grammys remain corrupt,” he stated. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, spoke to Billboard over the phone late Tuesday to respond to The Weeknd’s claims of the Grammy’s “corrupt” nature. “It saddened me. I try to empathize with where that came from, but it was difficult to hear,” he said. “I can understand he’s disappointed [at being shut out]. Everybody at the academy understands that he’s disappointed. I was personally surprised that he was not nominated.”
Artists from Kid Cudi to Tinashe and Scooter Braun, whose client Justin Bieber was in the clear this year with four nominations, expressed their disappointment in the Academy’s decision to not honor The Weeknd’s stellar year.
See The Weeknd’s follow-up tweet regarding his Grammys snub below:
