Former Grammy CEO Neil Portnow ‘rot in piss’
She’s not being cool about it.
Phoebe Bridgers slammed former Grammys CEO Neil Portnow after her band Boygenius managed to secure three out of four awards at the 66th annual ceremony on Sunday.
“I have something to say about women,” Bridgers, 29, told reporters backstage, according to a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The ex-president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, said that if women want to be nominated and win Grammys that they should step up. He’s also being accused of sexual violence.”
“And to him I’d like to say I know you’re not dead yet, but when you are, rot in piss,” the “Scotts Street” singer added.
In 2018, Portnow made a comment that women needed “to step up” after only winning 17 out of the 86 categories during the 2018 award show.
“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level, to step up,” Portnow, 76, told reporters at the time.
“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 really a combination,” he continued. “Us as an industry making the welcome mat very obvious, creating mentorships, creating opportunities not only for women but all people who want to be creative and really paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists who feel like they can do anything, they can say anything.”
Last fall, he’d go on to make more headlines when he was sued by a woman who claimed he drugged and raped her in a New York hotel in 2018.
According to the lawsuit, the Recording Academy “aided and abetted” to “protect their reputations and silence Plaintiff and other women in the music industry.”
The lawsuit alleged that the woman, described as an internationally known musician who once played at Carnegie Hall, was lured by Portnow to his hotel.
Portnow reportedly gave her something to drink at the meeting that made her intermittently lose consciousness and that he then proceeded to allegedly assault her.
The Post reached out to Portnow for comment.
Portnow, who served as chairman and CEO of The Recording Academy from 2002 to 2009, was later ousted from his position in 2019 following the end of his contract.
Despite backlash caused by Portnow, this year’s Grammy Awards saw the highest amount of women nominated for the prestigious awards.
Women also dominated this year’s big four categories with Taylor Swift making history by winning her fourth album of the year award, and Miley Cyrus securing record of the year for “Flowers.”
Additionally, Billie Eilish took home song of the year for “What Was I Made For?” from Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” and Victoria Monét dominated the all-female best new artist category.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Read the full article Here