The Grammy Awards show is an annual awards show held to honor achievements in the music industry. Since the first Grammy Awards show, this acknowledgment of achievements in the music industry has been a night of elegance and class. A night where the men and women of the music industry come together to be recognized and the world watches for entertainment. Nights of award shows should be a night where the public can get away from the atrocities of the world and enjoy the true gift of music and performers. However, in recent years this has not been the case; the days where the Grammy’s was a classy event solely focused on music is over. The awards show has turned into an environment where elegance has been replaced with immodesty. The shows, once watched purely for musical entertainment, are now often seen as platforms for political messaging. Between the loss of elegance throughout fashion and appearance and the corruption of the show itself, the Grammy’s are nothing compared to what they used to be.
The world continues to speak their opinions on the controversial topics of ICE and the state of America. As days go on, people continue to disagree with the recent events that have happened in the U.S. and it is only causing polarizing divides between society. Although these events need attention, an awards show is not the place to voice opinions on political issues.
During his opening monologue at the 2020 Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais said, “So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech, right? You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God and f**k off.”
I first heard of this quote after the Grammy’s and I thought it was a great message to the celebrities that accepted awards this year. In today’s world politics consumes our daily lives. We can barely get through a day without bringing up politics. As for myself, politics are a pivotal part of my household and I enjoy speaking about them with my family and friends. But I believe there is a time and a place for these types of conversations. I love to voice my opinion but there isn’t always a need to. Personally I believe celebrities need to find relevant times to voice their opinions. This shouldn’t be during an awards show where people are trying to enjoy the beauty of music and set aside politics.
Throughout the night of the 2026 Grammy’s, the motive of the show was evident. From the host of the Grammy’s, Trevor Noah, to almost every celebrity who accepted an award, politics were brought up.
The celebrity that brought the most controversy with her acceptance speech being Billie Eilish. While accepting the song of the year award she said, “No one is illegal on stolen land.”
This remark had people in attendance at the Grammy’s in an uproar but for many people at home watching, it was just another comment that once again diminished the professionalism the Grammy’s once had. Celebrities are people who are higher up socially due to their fame, A person who has received exorbitant amounts of money for the specific talents they have, for singers their unique and beautiful voices give them this fame. They accumulate money over their lifetime that allows them to buy mansions, designer clothes, and luxury transportation. The money they receive from their “job” allows them to buy these expensive things. When considering Billie Eilish’s comment and many other celebrities’ comments revolving around issues around the world, sometimes it is difficult to understand their thought process. Celebrities have crazy amounts of money to make a change, but hypocritically choose to only contribute to the change by spreading negative remarks. All the celebrities that attended the Grammy’s have the opportunity to make a change and most chose to spend their money on things that will benefit themselves. So when celebrities continue to shame things in America it’s hard for me to understand what their goal is speaking to the American public that have no commonalities with them. Celebrities have become a group of people that are out of touch with the American public and quite frankly out of touch with the entertainment industry.
The Grammy Awards were first held in 1959. When the awards broadcast started this event was known to be a black tie event, formal, music-focused and didn’t revolve around politics and controversy. The Grammy’s was considered an honor to be a part of and frankly the Grammy Awards I have watched on TV is not something I would consider an honor. I agree that free speech is what makes America thrive but I also agree with Ricky Gervais. Endorsing a political party, voicing your opinion on specific issues, and speaking out for what you believe is right is all fine and dandy as a celebrity, but what is the need to voice this opinion at an Award show that was designed to to focus on the gift of music? There are so many social media platforms celebrities can use to voice these opinions. If they desire they can even bring up politics at their shows. But truly with the news and overall hatred regarding political issues, an awards show should be a place where society can get a break from politics.
The Recording Academy is in charge of putting on the Grammy’s each year and oversees all topics concerning the voting. The Recording Academy needs to consider a re-look into what the Grammy’s were created for. As the years go on and the Grammy’s continue to shift towards something that doesn’t resemble the awards show we once had, the Grammy’s viewership will continue to go down, the Recording Academy will lose its meaning, and we will once again have something centered around politics. In our world today politics consume so much of Americans’ lives. Entertainment and politics do not always need to be affiliated and that is something all celebrities need to realize.
