Grammys President Backtracks After 'Step up' Backlash

The Grammys drama continues after Recording Academy president Niel Portnow said female artists [...]

By Kelsey Patterson

The Grammys drama continues after Recording Academy president Niel Portnow said female artists need to "step up" if they want better representation at the awards.

Males swept up nearly all the hardware during Sunday's live broadcast of the 60th annual Grammy Awards, with only Alessia Cara earning Best New Artist and Rihanna winning alongside Kendrick Lamar for Best Rap Performance.

But after Portnow's comments received harsh backlash from female artists like Pink and Iggy Azalea, he released a statement on Tuesday to clarify his position.

"Sunday 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," Portnow said in a statement to PEOPLE.

"Our industry must recognize that women who dream of careers in music face barriers that men have never faced," he continued. "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."

"I regret that I wasn't as articulate as I should have been in conveying this thought. I remain committed to doing everything I can to make our music community a better, safer, and more representative place for everyone," Portnow concluded.

The president's statement backtracks from his comments following the awards ceremony on Sunday night, during which he said: "It has to begin with 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. I don't have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it's upon us — us as an industry — to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists," Portnow told media.

His words unleashed major criticism from female musicians, who took to social media to blast Portnow's "step up" instruction.

Pink penned a handwritten message for Portnow and posted it on social media Monday.

"Women in music don't need to 'step up' — women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women OWNED music this year. They've been KILLING IT. And every year before this," the artist, who performed during Sunday's awards show, wrote. "When we celebrate and honor the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair."

Katy Perry tweeted a message of agreement with the female pop star, adding that "we ALL have a responsibility to call out the absurd lack of equality everywhere we see it."

Musical icon Sheryl Crow suggested that the Grammys return to awarding female and male categories following the nearly all-male awards.

"Who will young girls be inspired by to pick up a guitar and rock when most every category is filled with men? I'm not sure it is about women needing to 'step up', (as said by the male in charge)," she wrote.

"Bad at Love" singer Halsey also tweeted a series of messages slamming Portnow's comments and Grammys voters, who are musicians, producers and writers.

"Neil's comment was absurd. Female artists came HARD in 2017," Halsey wrote. "But the nominees are selected by peers and their opinion of the music. Which means it's a conversation about the standards of which the ENTIRE INDUSTRY expects women to uphold."

Photo credit: Getty / Slaven Vlasic / Contributor

0comments
Start the Conversation

of