When the 2021 Grammy nominations were unveiled earlier this week, there was a notable name absent from the list — The Weeknd — and he was just as surprised as fans were about the snub. On Wednesday (November 25), the R&B star called out the Recording Academy for leaving his latest album After Hours, along with its many hits, out of the running for a golden gramophone. "The Grammys remain corrupt," he wrote in a social media post. "You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency..."

While sources close to the singer claimed the reason for the snub was because he ultimately chose to perform at the Super Bowl over the awards ceremony, The Weeknd shared a subsequent message on social media revealing he'd been working with the Grammys on a performance before the shut out. "Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited?" he tweeted. "In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!"

In a statement via ET, Recording Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. spoke about The Weeknd's lack of nominations. "We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration," he said.

"We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the GRAMMY stage the weekend before," Mason continued. "Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process. All GRAMMY nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all."

See The Weeknd's tweet below.

Jeff Stevens

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