Super Bowl Halftime Show: The Weeknd’s Fans Call out Grammys for Tweet Following Awards Snub

The Weeknd fans quickly called out the Recording Academy when its Twitter page celebrated the “Blinding Lights” singer’s Super Bowl LV halftime show performance, even though they snubbed his latest album. While After Hours was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2020 and “Blinding Lights” one of the biggest hits of the year, The Weeknd did not receive a single Grammy nomination. After the Grammys snubbed him, The Weeknd called it “corrupt.”

“Three-time GRAMMY winner [The Weeknd] takes the stage during [the Pepsi Halftime Show],” the Grammys’ tweet read. They included three photos from the performance. The tweet quickly went viral, but not because fans were happy with the call-out.

The Weeknd has 10 Grammy nominations on his resume and just three wins. In 2016, he won Best Urban Contemporary Album for Beauty Behind the Madness and Record of the Year for “Can’t Feel My Face.” His most recent win came for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Starboy. While Starboy had several hits as well, including the title track that was performed Sunday night, none of those songs received individual Grammy nominations, so the Recording Academy has a history with snubbing his work.

​

After the Grammy nominations were announced in November, fans were stunned that After Hours was ignored. The Weeknd even made a public comment on the situation. “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency,” he wrote at the time.

​

Harvey Mason Jr., the interim Recording Academy President/CEO, insisted The Weeknd was not intentionally snubbed. “For The Weeknd, in every year you only have a certain amount of people you can nominate for each category,” he said at the time. “…In my experience, it’s not really been about trying to even the playing field for every different group and make sure that everyone’s included. It’s really about trying to highlight quality and excellence.”

​

“You seriously had the balls to post this while you nominated him for nothing this year,” one person wrote. “Snubbing him then posting this y’all are way too shameless smh,” another added.

​

“If I were the weekend I would’ve blocked you lol,” one fan wrote to the Recording Academy. “not y’all using him for some interactions after snubbing him this year,” another added.

​

“Mariah Carey warned us about you a long time ago, the world should have listened!!!” one person wrote. “snubbed him and now using him for clout….y’all not seeing those pearly gates,” another added.

​

Without The Weeknd, the nominees for the Album of the Year Grammy are Jhene Aiko’s Chilombo, Black Pumas’ self-titled debut, Coldplay’s Everyday Life, Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol. 3, Women in Music Pt. III by Haim, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, and Folklore by Taylor Swift. The Grammys air live on March 14 on CBS.