Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich has hit back at Ariana Grande after she accused him of trying to “stifle” her creativity, the latest salvo in an increasingly messy war of words about why she won’t be performing at this year’s ceremony.
On Thursday of this week, Grande Tweeted out a screenshot of an Associated Press interview with Ehrlich, in which he claimed that Ari felt it was “too late” to put together a performance for the show, and this is why she would not be appearing.
She accused him of lying about the situation, saying: “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.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Ehrlich said that he was surprised by her comments, adding: “I will say this, and they don’t want me to say it but I’m going to say it: The thing that probably bothered me more than whatever else she said about me is when she said I’m not collaborative.”
He then went on to defend his resume, saying that he has worked with artists like Christina Aguilera, Melissa Etheridge, Ricky Martin and Mary J Blige on crafting unique performances, and that she could ask any of them about his collaborative skills. He went on to say:
“I don’t know if I’m good at anything else, but I understand artists and I can hear other artists in an artist. I don’t say to people, ‘This is what you should do.’ I approach it casually and say, hey, this might be a good idea, let’s find something in the middle.”
Earlier this week, Ariana Grande said that she felt “insulted” by the Grammys after producers were resistant to the idea of her performing recent hit ‘7 Rings‘, then told her she could do it if she sang it s part of a medley with another song of their choosing.
