H.E.R. Speaks out on Oscars Performance Snub

It’s Oscar night, and everyone is buzzing about who scored a nomination during one of Hollywood’s biggest nights. One person left out of the nominations is “Best Part” singer, H.E.R. The singer has broken her silence on the committee’s decision not to include her in this year’s best original song nominees. If traditional performances took place, H.E.R. would have taken the stage live to sing Diane Warren’s “Journey” from the Netflix’s latest Tyler Perry time-period piece, The Six Triple Eight.

“It’s kind of weird, but I’m just happy to be there,” she told Variety. H.E.R. took home the 2021 Oscar for “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah, another time-period piece based on Black Panther Party leader, Fred Hampton. “Performing or not, the song’s gonna live on, whether we perform it on the Oscar stage or not, I was a little bummed because I look forward to those performances, not just being in it, you know, but it’s totally fine. It’s still gonna be a great show, I think,” she added.

“Journey” is Warren’s 16th Oscar nomination. Despite having yet won an Academy Award, she was presented with an honorary award in 2022 by Cher.

During H.E.R.’s 2021 acceptance speech, she immediately recognized her collaborators: “The song wouldn’t be what it was without them,” she said of D’Mile and Tiara Thomas.

She also spoke about the importance of merging music and film to tell a full story. “Musicians, filmmakers I believe we have an opportunity and responsibility, to me, to tell the truth and to write history the way that it was and how it connects us to today and what we see going on in the world today,” she said.

She added: “Knowledge is power, music is power and as long as I’m standing I’m always going to fight for us, I’m always going to fight for my people and fight for what’s right and I think that’s what music does and that’s what storytelling does.”