Sean Combs, aka P Diddy, slammed the Grammys during his acceptance speech for receiving the President’s Merit Award for Industry Icon at Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy gala, according to Page Six. At the end of a nearly hour long speech, Diddy turned his attention to the Grammys, and made remarks about race and artist empowerment.
Diddy first addressed his disdain for the treatment of the music industry by the Grammys, stating, “Every year, y’all be killing us man. I’m talking about the pain. I’m speaking for all the artists here, producers and executives – the amount of time to make these records, to pour your heart out into it… in the great words of Erykah Badu, ‘We are artists and we’re sensitive about our s–t. We are passionate.’”
Later Diddy spoke about racial discrimination in both music and society as a whole: “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be . . . This thing been going on and it’s not just going on in music. It’s going on in film. It’s going on in sports, It’s going on around the world. And for years, we’ve allowed institutions, that have never had our best interest at heart, to judge us. And that stops right now.”
Diddy used his platform as a call to action, stating that the Grammys have “365 days to get their s–t together,” and urging other artists to use their positions to create change and foster diversity.
Check out a video of a portion of P Diddy’s speech below:
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