Superior early morning, Broadsheet visitors! Two gals are established to deliver the Democrats’ Condition of the Union reaction, Coco Gauff is knocked out of the Australian Open up, and the Grammys choose the present need to go on. Have a successful Monday.
– The present will have to go on. It was a solemn night time for the Grammy Awards as the music business collected in the L.A. Staples Centre, the household of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who died along with his 13-12 months-previous daughter Gianna and 7 others in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
But the awards went on even so, with 18-year-outdated Billie Eilish sweeping the 4 most prestigious awards—album, report and tune of the yr, and best new artist. She won five in total, and the night seemed to officially anoint her as songs’s largest new star. Michelle Obama also gained a statue for her audiobook for Becoming, and Lizzo captured the prizes for best pop solo functionality, most effective urban present-day album, and most effective regular R&B efficiency.
The ceremony followed a week that saw ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan in a drawn-out battle with her former employer, the corporation driving the awards. The Recording Academy stated an assistant had accused Dugan of bullying, a demand she denies. Dugan responded by filing an EEOC complaint saying she experienced been suspended for uncovering misconduct and corruption in the establishment. Amongst her claims: that she was harassed by the Recording Academy’s normal counsel and that Neil Portnow, her predecessor as CEO, experienced been accused of rape by an artist. (Portnow denies the allegations.)
Not excellent situations for an awards exhibit. Dugan herself had claimed she hoped not to taint the ceremony—it’s “about the musicians and the fans,” she informed the L.A. Situations—and for the most part, the Grammys did what the Grammys do. But there are experiences that we skipped out on one performance—a surprise from Taylor Swift, who appears to have pulled out amid the Dugan controversy. The icing on the cake: Swift was apparently planning to complete “The Male,” her tune about gendered double standards and existence as a girl in the highlight.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe