Charli XCX took to Twitter on Monday night (29Jan18) to express her anger about the Recording Academy president’s defence over the lack of female representation at the Grammy Awards.
Following the news that only nine per cent of the 899 Grammy nominees were women, and Alessia Cara becoming the only female to take home a main award at Monday night’s awards ceremony, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow revealed his feelings about the situation 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,” he said. “(They need) to step up because I think they would be welcome.”
His remarks sparked rage among some of the biggest names in the music industry, with Charli XCX front and centre.
“Ugh bout (sic) 2 step up on 2 ur face,” she wrote in response. “Women are making AMAZING music right now wtf (what the fuck) is this dude talking about ?????”
She wasn’t the only famous face to respond to Portnow’s comments.
Pink also hit back on Twitter, fuming: “Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’. Women have been stepping since the beginning of time (sic). 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 honour 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.”
The Recording Academy has yet to respond to the controversy created by Portnow’s interview.
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