The Grammys have always confused me with all these pre-events and award thingos – but here’s something we can all feel deep in our soul. Sean “Diddy” Combs spent a whole 50-minutes giving a thank you speech.
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Diddy headed up on stage to accept his the 2020 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons at the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala, in front of a star-studded crowd including the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Cardi B, Lana Del Rey, Ozzy Osbourne and John Legend.
Reports say most of that time was just him reminiscing about his life, career and the people in it, and while this may be giving us all horrible flashbacks to school assemblies, about 40-minutes in the tone changed.
Diddy used the end of his speech to slam the Grammys for never respecting hip-hop and black music.
https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/1221493385342738432?
“I’m being honored by the industry that I love, the family that I love, but there’s an elephant in the room and it’s not just about the Grammys,” he said in a video of he speech he later posted to Twitter.”There’s discrimination and injustice everywhere.”
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys.”
“Right now, this current situation is not a revelation. This thing’s been going on. And it’s not just going on in music. It’s going on in film, it’s going on in sport, it’s going on around the world. For years we’ve allowed institutions that have never had our best interests at heart to judge us, and that stops right now.”
His speech continued with a callout for change. “We need the artists to take back the control. We need transparency. We need diversity. This is the room that has the power to make the change that needs to be made. They have to make the changes for us.”
Several artists can be seen clapping and cheering after Diddy dropped his truth bomb, most notably Queen B and Jay-Z.
Diddy went on to reference the drama surrounding the Grammys this year, with its new president/CEO Deborah Dugan spilling all the tea after being put on administrative leave in the lead up to the event.
