Lorde Is Ditching Grammys Performance Because Of Sexism, Mom Says

Lorde is boycotting the 60th Grammy Awards despite being nominated for album of the year. The reason? Her mother believes the Grammys is being sexist against her.

Five of the biggest musicians today are vying for album of the year at the Grammy Awards this Sunday: Childish Gambino for Awaken, My Love!, Jay-Z for 4:44, Kendrick Lamar for DAMN., Bruno Mars for 24K Magic, and Lorde for Melodrama.

Out of the five nominees, two will be sitting out the Grammys red carpet. According to People, Jay-Z will be sitting out the Grammys stage and will receive the Grammy salute to industry icons award instead during Clive Davis’ annual Pre-Grammy gala. Jay-Z is nominated strongly at the Grammys for the following categories: album of the year, best rap album, song of the year, best rap song, record of the year, best rap/sung collaboration, best music video, and best rap performance. And according to People‘s source, Jay-Z’s decision to skip on the Grammys is because the family guy is just too busy getting settled into his new mansion with Beyonce and their kids.

Apart from Jay-Z, Lorde is reportedly going to be a no-show at the Grammys red carpet and stage as well–and she’s boycotting it for a much bigger reason.

According to Variety, it seems Lorde was not given the choice to perform solo on the Grammys stage despite her fellow nominees being given the opportunity to do so. According to their sources, Lorde was approached by the Grammys to perform with other artists for a tribute to the late Tom Petty in the song “American Girl.”

One, the song would have been a totally off song choice for Lorde. It was no surprise that Lorde declined to do the number. But the bigger issue for Lorde was that the Grammys did not give her the solo performance she requested despite the fact that the other album of the year nominees, Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, and Kendrick Lamar, are all getting the stage to themselves.

Lorde’s last performance at the Grammys was back in 2014 when she won song of the year and best pop solo performance for her breakout hit “Royals,” where she gave a chilling but great solo performance with her band.

This has sparked rumors that there might be sexism in play in here. In fact, even Lorde’s mother Sonja Yelich was not too happy about the Grammys’ decision and went to Twitter to call out the Grammys. Posting an excerpt from a New York Times article, Lorde’s mom noted that even in the last six years, only 9 percent of the nominees at the Grammy Awards were women.

this says it all –@nytimes January 26, 2018 pic.twitter.com/R3YdHwieXf

— Sonja Yelich (@sonjayelich1) January 26, 2018

The same New York Times article was published online and tackled why it looks like the Grammys will not be having a “#MeToo” moment after Hollywood’s Time’s Up campaign. Minya Oh, a New York radio personality also known as Miss Info, told the New York Times,“Overall, I think the music industry has been shockingly underinvolved in this movement.”

In fact, after the news company reached out to more than two dozen female artists and executives from the music industry, many were reluctant to speak on the record. Instead, a small group of female executives has gathered in private to create a follow-up to the campaign without the Grammys’ help–and Meg Harkins, a marketing executive at Roc Nation, and Karen Rait from Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records at the forefront.

In fact, Ken Ehrlich, a long-time producer of the Grammys, revealed that the Grammys is not doing anything “specifically” to address the #MeToo movement.

“There are people who are going to watch the show who are caught up in the #MeToo movement and will expect us to address it in one way or another. But there is a large part of the audience that will tune in because they just want to be entertained.”

Instead, in cooperation with Harkins and Rait’s efforts to create something that will make the music industry stand with the millions of women supporting the #MeToo campaign, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, and Khalid are wearing a white rose to the Grammys red carpet.

Too bad Lorde won’t be able to join them.