Despite receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Progressive R&B album for the 2023 project The Love Album: Off The Grid, a representative for Sean Combs told The Hollywood Reporter that the rapper will not attend music’s biggest night given several allegations of sexual abuse.
Shortly after the received the nomination was made public in November, the R&B singer’s former girlfriend Cassie accused him of sexually assaulting her in a lawsuit filed in New York. Though the plaintiff (born Cassandra Ventura,) and Combs settled out of court the following day, three additional women subsequently came forward, filing sexual abuse lawsuits of their own, including a woman who alleged that P.Diddy and record executive Harve Pierre gang-raped her when she was 17 years old.
While Grammy Award contenders typically get invited to the ceremony shortly after nominations are announced, a month ago, the Recording Academy issued a statement that the organization was evaluating Combs’ invite to the Grammys. writing “We are taking this matter very seriously and we are in the process of evaluating it with the time and care that it deserves.”
Heading into this year’s Grammy Awards show, questions surfaced as to whether or not Combs would attend the show or if his nomination would be rescinded.
In 2021, Marilyn Manson and Louis C.K., who were both previously accused of sexual misconduct, received Grammy nominations. The Academy did not pull those nominations, and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told The Wrap that the Grammys “won’t restrict the people who can submit their material for consideration. We won’t look back at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record, we won’t look at anything other than the legality within our rules of, is this recording for this work eligible based on date and other criteria.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Reckless Dream Photography