Grammys President Neil Portnow Has Finally Resigned Over That Time He Was Insanely Sexist

After copping flack after defending the Grammys for its lack of female winners at this year’s ceremony by suggesting women simply “need to step up”, Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow has announced he’ll step down when his current contract expires next year.

Out of the 84 awards handed out this January, women only won 11 of them. Only two awards went to female recording artists — Alessia Cara, for Best New Artist, and Shakira, for Best Latin Pop Album. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was less though, as only Cara’s award was televised.

In a year in which non-male artists dominated both the charts and our cultural consciousness, it was a night of robberies — especially for SZA, whose debut album Ctrl was nominated for five awards, and won none.

Meanwhile, Lorde’s Melodrama was up for Album Of The Year, but unlike the four male nominees, was not invited to perform at the awards. Kesha did perform an incredibly moving rendition of ‘Praying’, but was otherwise snubbed.

It was upsetting, but shouldn’t have been surprising — number crunching soon revealed that 90 percent of nominees since 2013 have been male. A hashtag #GrammysSoMale soon caught on, and after Portnow made the tone-deaf comment in an interview with Variety, it blew up with the help of call outs from the likes of Charli XCX, P!nk, Sheryl Crowe and Fiona Apple.

In addition, an online petition demanding Portnow’s resignation received more than 30,000 signatures, and he was also the subject of an open letter co-signed by female music industry executives asking him to resign, saying he was “part of the problem”.

2/2: …demanding equality and fairness. The lack of female representation is not about there not being enough quality coming from women in music, it’s about the fact that the opportunities for women to have a presence have been chopped in half. #GrammysSoMale

— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow) January 30, 2018

Subsequently, Portnow apologised for being ‘inarticulate’ and committed to installing an “independent task force” to “overcome the explicit barriers and unconscious biases that impede female advancement in the music community”.

Four months later, Billboard reports that Portnow is standing down. Last week, Portnow was also accused of diverting money away from a Grammys-supported foundation MusiCares towards a deficit caused by moving the awards from LA to New York this year. His statement does not reference either controversy, instead focusing on moving the Academy forward.

It wasn’t the first time Portnow had come under criticism — in 2017, he denied the Grammys had “a race problem” amid criticism after Adele’s 25 beat out Beyoncé’s internet-breaking Lemonade for Album of the Year, a decision even Adele disagreed with. Perhaps when they look for the next CEO, they should check their streaming records.

Read Portnow’s full statement below.

The evolution of industries, institutions and organisations is ultimately the key to their relevance, longevity and success, Having been a member of the Recording Academy for four decades, serving as an elected leader and our President/CEO, I have not only witnessed our evolution, but proudly contributed significantly to the Academy’s growth and stature in the world.

When I had the honour of being selected to lead this great organisation in 2002, I vowed that on my watch, for the first time in our history, we would have a thoughtful, well-planned and collegial transition. With a little more than a year remaining on my current contract, I’ve decided that this is an appropriate time to deliver on that promise.

Accordingly, I’ll be working with our Board to put the various elements in place that will ensure transparency, best practices, and the Academy’s ability to find the very best, brightest, and qualified leadership to take us into our seventh decade of operation. I truly look forward to continuing my role leading the Academy in the year ahead, and to continuing the pursuit of excellence and the fine missions we embrace and deliver.

— Neil Portnow