celeb news Why did Taylor ignore Céline when she presented her with the Grammy for AOTY?

[bluebirdsforever]

27 minutes ago, Flanders said:

But the audacity to claim that this was somehow a wonderful night for women of color 

Please do not put words in my mouth. What I actually said, for the public record:

 

Quote

I'm much more interested in celebrating the wins women had this evening, especially women of colour, and again interrogating the unfairly distorted playing field for women of colour (especially black women) in the major categories.

Nowhere in my post did I say it was "a wonderful night for women of colour," because I do not think it was anywhere near as wonderful a night for the very deserving Black nominees in the major categories as it could have been. My post pretty directly says as much. However, it still was a night where Victoria Monet and SZA (among other women) both won multiple Grammys, which are achievements I think they deserve to be celebrated for without said achievements being overshadowed by another round of basement-bin tabloid fodder like "did Taylor Swift look at someone with the wrong expression on her face?" - which is exactly what is happening in this thread.

For more of my thoughts on the Grammys, please see below for what I posted in another thread:

 

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While I am of course very happy for Taylor and think this is a legendary conclusion to what was arguably the biggest year ever for an artist in contemporary music, I do wish the Grammys could find more space for the also-legendary achievements of Black women to be celebrated to the same degree they celebrate those of other artists.

 

I don't want to get into an inevitably fruitless discussion about whether Taylor "deserved" it or not (because what does that even mean in the context of a nebulously-defined award that seems to change its criteria constantly?) beyond saying I really hoped this was SZA's year and that she could have had a well-deserved moment beyond her genre categories. The stars always align for Taylor to a degree that is almost frightening, but Black artists aren't afforded the same lighting-in-a-bottle success that SOS had this year with anywhere near the same frequency.

 

Does that mean Taylor is a talentless hack who does not deserve her success? Not in the slightest - and SZA wouldn't agree with that conclusion, either. But does it also mean that the industry does not make space for other (less privileged) artists to rise to Taylor's rarefied level as often as they should? Also yes. I just wish the internet could hold space for both opinions at the same time.

I hope I have made myself clear.

[theoghon]

Taylor is walking on verrry THIN ice at the  moment...incredibly questionable decisions at the grammys tonight, including using the platform to announce/promote a new album, lack of courtesy towards Celine, unorganized way of acknowledging/showing respect to Lana (and fellow nominees)...

 

Not to mention the general negative sentiment towards her AOTY win...oh Ms. Swift 👏this.👏new.👏album.👏BETTA.👏be.👏good

 

 ...and NOT a rehash of Midnights' brand of bland alt-pop coz...

Edited February 5 by theoghon

[Kern]

2 hours ago, Badgalbriel said:

she probably didn't expect to win,

[kayliah]

What if tortured poets is her all time best. And she should win aoty for it but because of Midnights they dont give it to her. She should have won song of the year instead. But midnights is a great albim and the production is amazing on Maroon,Midnight rain,lavender haze and Anti hero as well as all of the other tracks.

[Infernal Paradise]

Celine is an absolute legend and was a true symbol of class, bravery and resilience on the stage last night. It was so lovely to see her again after all that she's been through lately.

 

The whole thing came across as extremely disrespectful and was exacerbated by the fact that Celine literally acknowledged Diana Ross and Sting giving her AOTY just moments before  she deserved better.

 

[Ger.vaz]

You all are literally lunatics. Looking for any excuse to say **** about Taylor because it bothers you so much to see her win. She is breaking records and giving us new music every year while your faves can't release a quality album in decades or be relevant.

I feel very sorry for you because it must be horrible to see someone win so much and be bothered by your insecurities.

Celine and Taylor are ok. 

[allforyou]

I was surprised that Taylor didn't acknowledge Céline on stage but I don't think she did it on purpose, she probably was too caught up on her win (which is reasonable).

 

Anyway they took a picture after that backstage so they're clearly cool.

 

I'm just so happy to see Céline in a big ceremony like this  This and the documentary makes me think that's she's slowly coming back

[Flanders]

39 minutes ago, bluebirdsforever said:

Please do not put words in my mouth. What I actually said, for the public record:

 

Nowhere in my post did I say it was "a wonderful night for women of colour," because I do not think it was anywhere near as wonderful a night for the very deserving Black nominees in the major categories as it could have been. My post pretty directly says as much. However, it still was a night where Victoria Monet and SZA (among other women) both won multiple Grammys, which are achievements I think they deserve to be celebrated for without said achievements being overshadowed by another round of basement-bin tabloid fodder like "did Taylor Swift look at someone with the wrong expression on her face?" - which is exactly what is happening in this thread.

For more of my thoughts on the Grammys, please see below for what I posted in another thread:

 

I hope I have made myself clear.

That was how I interpreted what you wrote, thanks for the necessary clarification - your post was definitely not as clear as you are leading yourself to believe.

 

I think a lot of people will find it a bit condescending and thoughtless that they are told to be happy & grateful for SZAs wins as a black woman when almost all of her trophies came from categories where all nominees were black, meaning the winner would be black by default. But I get your general sentiment and I agree.

[Space&Time]

Imagine Whitney Houston presents album of the year to SZA. Could you imagine her snatching the award like Whitney wasn’t there?
 

Taylor is sweet, but to watch Céline Dion, give you an intro and not acknowledge her and just take the award out of her hand points to some sort of character flaw. Period.

[IBeMe]

yall....is it hard to process that she just forgot to do that? I get Taylor is well spoken and smart AF and stuff but she is human lol...do u think she seriously wanted to disrespect Celine? It was just an accident that she didnt acknowledge her I think...I do wish she at least hugged her or something but sometimes u can be flustered 

[Shinning]

LOOOOOOOOL I can’t believe MIDnights won

At this point just don’t bother doing the awards when she’s nominated and just send them directly to her. The Grammys are such a JOKE.

SZA sweetie I’m so sorry

[1989]

Leave it to ATRL to be mad over...nothing.  
 

There’s clearly nothing “wrong” (between Taylor and f*cking Céline Dion?!) when they took multiple photos immediately backstage, including some with Céline’s son (who apparently is also a Taylor fan). 
 

Taylor was clearly overwhelmed, hence her unprepared speech (which has honestly been one of the only truly unprepared and least “Taylor Swift” speeches she’s given). Also, Taylor was literally drunk singing The Power Of Love minutes before. 
 

I feel like it’s safe to say Taylor Swift holds no ill will toward Céline Dion. 

[campelo]

Getting that award from Celine worths more than any award

[spiritboy]

Why is this a big thing? She probably apologized to Céline backstaged, they hugged and moved on.

[Rep2000]

Imagine seething over this non-issue .

 

You would have think that all these people are the most ferocious Celine stans or something to be *this* mad at Taylor.

When we all know y'all don't give a **** about her or stream her music before, during, or after this. 

 

[fab]

i mean yeah, ideally she should've acknowledged her but it's an emotional and stressful moment.. clearly there was no ill intention, it's not a big deal 

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Taylor was totally disrespectful to Celine on stage, and I’m not falling for those PR pictures taken backstage. I can’t believe they gave her mediocre ass four AOTY awards. 

[bluebirdsforever]

39 minutes ago, Flanders said:

I think a lot of people will find it a bit condescending and thoughtless that they are told to be happy & grateful for SZAs wins as a black woman

You are once again putting words in my mouth.

 

Not once have I said anyone needs to be “happy and grateful for SZA’s wins” - in fact, I expressed the opposite very clearly in my original post when I said I want to “[interrogate] the unfairly distorted playing field for women of colour (especially Black women) in the major categories” while still celebrating their achievements, as they all deserve. What part of me directly calling out an “unfairly distorted playing field” and saying I would rather we all focus on discussing that than tabloid drivel suggests I am happy and satisfied with the status quo, and that everyone else should be too? Those are contradictory statements.
 

I have now explained this position at length - I am not “leading [myself]” to believe anything and have been nothing but clear and civil in my replies to you. If you believe my original post was unclear, you could have easily referred to my other posts on the topic for clarification instead of immediately (and publicly) casting aspersions on my character by suggesting I hold beliefs about engrained racism in the music industry that I have made repeatedly clear I do not.

 

This will be my final post on this topic, as this unnecessary back-and-forth is neither clarifying nor necessary. I will continue calling out racism in the Grammys, and elsewhere, as I have since joining this site.

[1989]

Y’all go stream D’Eux and Folklore and find peace. 

[aesthetic bih]

I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt and she was just feeling so much emotions at that moment

 

But also, it's freaking Celine Dion??! Even Miley who was obviously ecstatic since it was her first Grammy was able to acknowledge Mariah's presence. So I don't understand why Taylor could just ignore Celine like that right on the freaking stage AND on live television too, when Taylor was such a pro in her previous AOTY speeches. It seems odd for Taylor to overlook that

 

Taylor also called Lana "influential" and a "legend", but no praises for Celine, hmmmmm...? Taylor also forgot to thank Celine when Celine handed out her AOTY Grammy to her and didn't give her eye contact when Celine was congratulating her...

[aesthetic bih]

3 hours ago, Asscatchem said:

if i had a single called Damage Control this would be the album cover

 

Tree Paine 'bout to get that FAT check

[WeWon]

Taylor Swift doesn’t seem to be very humble 

 

My fave, Miley, actually wasn’t fazed that she won a Grammy and was more thrilled to be presented it by Mariah Carey. Ms. Swift should take notes

Edited February 5 by WeWon

[KatyPrismSpirit]

beyhive pissed at taylor accepting her well deserved ALBUM OF THE YEAR grammy. taylor and celine were literally taking pics smiling together right after

[toxicgenie]

33 minutes ago, Rep2000 said:

Imagine seething over this non-issue .

 

You would have think that all these people are the most ferocious Celine stans or something to be *this* mad at Taylor.

When we all know y'all don't give a **** about her or stream her music before, during, or after this. 

 

Not everything is about streams and numbers. People are sensitive because of Celine's terminal condition. This was her first public appearance since announcing her condition. 

 

it's not a good look. I hope Taylor grows and learns from it. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt but she needs to own her place at the top.

[Khal]

There’s no way some of these reactions are actually towards what happened (which was not ideal, but not a big deal in the bigger picture)