Pink, Sheryl Crow, Britney and more outraged by Grammys' head suggestion that women need to 'step up'
Some of music's most prominent women have been outraged by the suggestion that they need to "step up" in order to achieve equal awards recognition to men.
On Sunday, just two women took home Grammy Awards. Alessia Cara won the gong for Best New Artist while Shakira won Best Latin pop Album. When the Recording Academy responsible for choosing the winners and nominees faced a social media campaign of #GrammysSoMale, its president Neil Portnow made a statement to Variety:
“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.”
Stars including Pink, Sheryl Crow, Charli XCX as well as Britney Spears's business manager all responded to Portnow's comments, in particular his belief that women “need to step up”.
Pink, who has won three Grammys and lost out on a fourth on Sunday to Ed Sheeran, posted a letter to Twitter in which she wrote: “Women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside.”
Lou Taylor, whose firm represents Spears, Mary J Blige, Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani, wrote on her Instagram account: “There are countless women who help provide the foundation that this business is built on - Here let me help you Neil and Ken – maybe next year we will have a new Academy president and a new producer.
“I hear the Academy needs a new accountant since you are in debt – I know a good woman who can "step up" and help get you out of debt and help you pull your head out of your ass.”
Nine-time Grammy winner Crow also turned to social media to call for a return to separate male and female categories at the awards.
British singer-songwriter Charli XCX, who earned two nominations in 2015, shared her ire at Portnow's comments while her former collaborator, rapper Iggy Azalea, said his statement had “really heated me up”, adding that the Academy was a “boys club”. Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara wryly noted: “Well. At least the music industry is consistent across North America in putting the blame on women for not being nominated.”