Iggy Azalea Says Women Should Boycott Grammys Next Year

Iggy Azalea is calling out Neil Portnow after he said women need to “step up” to be part of the Grammys. The 27-year-old Aussie rapper called for women to boycott the Grammys telecast next year after the Recording Academy president’s comments caused some serious backlash.

“Neil Portnow really has me heated with his ‘women need to step up’ Grammy-Boys-Club bulls— statement,” Azalea tweeted Thursday.

Later, she retweeted one of her followers who suggested releasing a diss track about Portnow, adding her own thoughts about the 2019 Grammys.

“Or instead of being gracious and wearing white flowers on the carpet (bringing in the viewers for his telecast in designer gowns) women should consider if we NEED to take firmer action and stay at home in PJs next year… see how that works out for Neil,” she wrote.

She referred to the multiple celebs like Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson and Pink who wore white roses to the gala in support of Time’s Up, the movement that helps fund legal defenses for victims of sexual misconduct in the workplace.

Portnow gave a controversial response earlier this week when Variety asked him why there were noticeably less female winners and nominees in the major Grammy categories this year.

“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,” Portnow said. “[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.”

Azalea wasn’t the only female musician Portnow enraged. Pop rocker Pink also took to Twitter to share a hand-written note slamming Portnow’s choice of words.

“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up,” Pink wrote. “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.”

“When we celebrate and honor the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, 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,” she continued.

Artists including Sheryl Crow, Charli XCX and Tegan and Sara have also taken to Twitter to shared their displeasure at the comments.

Portnow released a statement on Monday clarifying his previous comments.

“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 began.

“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. 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 continued.

The Grammys suffered a less-than-stellar night ratings-wise, with a 21% decline from 2017 in early numbers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. With a 12.7 rating among households, according to overnight returns from Nielsen Media, it’s likely that the broadcast will be facing its largest drop since the 2013 broadcast, which suffered following the swell of viewers for the 2012 ceremony that came after the death of Whitney Houston.

It’s also likely that the music award show could be facing an all-time low.