Ariana Grande slams Grammys producer and accuses him of lying
Ariana Grande has released two successful albums within six months, announced a tour and broke streaming records with her hit singles "thank u, next" and "7 rings." But the pop star will not be performing any of her recent hits at the Grammys, even though she's nominated for two.
The show — or lack thereof — is causing some beef.
Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich said the awards show had several conversations with Grande about performing on Sunday. Ehrlich said Grande "felt it was too late for her to pull something together," The Associated Press reported. Grande says he's lying.
The singer fired back at Ehrlich's remarks on Thursday, tweeting: "i've kept my mouth shut but now you're lying about me."
"i can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken," Grande wrote. "it was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that i decided not to attend. i hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more." The singer did not stop there.
"i offered 3 different songs," she revealed in a second tweet. "it's about collaboration. it's about feeling supported. it's about art and honesty. not politics. not doing favors or playing games. it's just a game y'all.. and i'm sorry but that's not what music is to me."
"hope that helps everyone understand my decision. i am still grateful for the acknowledgement this year," she said in a third tweet.
i’ve kept my mouth shut but now you’re lying about me. i can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. it was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that i decided not to attend. i hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more. 🖤
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 7, 2019
Ehrlich said the Recording Academy wanted Grande to perform at the Grammys after having "conversations over the past month or so," the AP reported. Variety reported that Grande pulled out of the Grammys due to disagreements over what songs she would sing. Grande seemed to confirm that in her tweets on Thursday.
Grande's song "7 rings" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and, according to Nielsen Music, it also debuted at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart with 85.3 million U.S. streams in the week ending January 24. That's the second-biggest streaming week ever for a song by a female artist.
The biggest week ever went to the album's title song, "thank u, next," which drew 93.8 million streams, Billboard reported. On Friday, Grande released her highly-anticipated album with the same name. The star had been teasing the February 8 release of on social media for weeks. The album dropped at midnight and fans lit up Twitter with their reactions.
In addition to the "thank u, next" album drop, Grande also released a music video for the song "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored," which had a widely talked about twist ending.