Kanye West has been banned from performing at the Grammy Awards due to his “related online behavior,” a rep for the artist confirmed to Variety. Representatives from the Recording Academy and CBS, who represent the Grammys, did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment on the statement early Saturday.
West’s rep cited a report in the Blast, released late Friday night, which claimed that the artist’s team received a call on Friday night informing him that he was “unfortunately” cut from the cast for the show due to his “disturbing online behavior.” . While West, who is up for five 2022 Grammy Awards, was not among the first performers announced on Tuesday, he may have been the scheduled performer. West’s rep sent Variety a link to the story, saying only “It’s confirmed”; A rep did not respond to requests for more information, though the Blast report says, “Our sources say Team Kanye is not surprised by the decision.”
And they shouldn’t be. While representatives from the Academy did not respond to requests for comment, there are many reasons why Kanye West’s live performance on network television would be an overly risky proposition. Based on his social media posts and activity in just the past few months, he may be using the stage to continue his online harassment of Pete Davidson, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend; he might try to lobby public opinion for custody of his children; he could make a statement in support of accused sex offender Marilyn Manson or the unrepentant homophobic DuBaby he featured at his recent concerts or auditions; he could have made more false claims about slavery or revived his dislike of former President Trump. Conversely, he could use the platform to do something that wasn’t self-serving, self-referential, or outright trolling, like when he unexpectedly said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” during a television fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Perhaps most of all, the report says that the decision was made in part due to concerns about possible interactions between West and Grammy host Trevor Noah; West insulted Noah in an Instagram post regarding The Daily Show host’s comments about his split from the Kardashians, which resulted in a 24-hour ban from the platform. In response, Noah wrote: “I’ll be honest with you – I see in this situation a woman who wants to live her life without being harassed by an ex-boyfriend, ex-husband or anyone else.”
West’s public appearances are rarely uncontroversial, often negative, and there’s no reason to expect the 2022 Grammy Awards performance to be an exception.
In some quarters, the report sparked a furious outcry, claiming it was part of a racist or anti-hip hop narrative. However, it’s worth noting that Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said he successfully campaigned to increase the number of Album of the Year nominees from eight to 10 starting with the 2022 award because hip-hop wasn’t represented – and West’s “Donda” album was the beneficiary of that decision.
Veteran rapper The Game, who collaborated with West on Davidson’s recent single and trolling video “Eazy,” wrote in an oft-quoted post: “Time and time again they’ve shown us they only want to steal culture and not let you ever be equal to them. In a more than obvious movement for reasons of meager actions…. The Grammys decided at the last minute to pull (Kanye West) off the show like we didn’t know it was coming. Maybe because (Trevor Noah) is the host and there was a conversation between his team and the academy that led to a decision, or because Ye’s account was banned just a few days ago for unknown reasons, especially in a world where everyone the negatives of the world can be found in the same application without any consequences or suspensions…. We’ll just say it’s all of the above and a constant disrespect to us and everything we’ve brought to entertainment, media and sports, especially in the last 100 years.” Contacting Variety, a spokesperson for Game did not immediately comment.
On Tuesday morning, the first Grammy tour was announced: BTS nominees Olivia Rodrigo, Billy Eilish, Lil Nas X with Jack Harlow, Brandi Carlyle and the Osbourne brothers.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, to be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas and hosted by Trevor Noah, will be broadcast live on Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 8:00 pm ET / 5 p.m. PT on CBS and will be available for streaming. live and on demand on Paramount+.
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