Fiona Apple Considered Boycotting The Grammys After They Gave Dr. Luke A Nomination

When the Recording Academy announced the nominations for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards last month, there were a few names that made me think, “Huh, they must be new.” Like the producer of Doja Cat’s hit song “Say So,” which was nominated for Song of the Year. It was produced by an artist named Tyson Trax, which sounds like the alias of someone too embarrassed to use their real name when producing Kidz Bop albums. As it turns out, Tyson Trax is an alias of Dr. Luke’s That really didn’t sit well with Fiona Apple.

This is the same Dr. Luke who sued Kesha for defamation after she accused him of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as accusations of drugging and raping her. Kesha wanted to get out of her contract, which was dismissed and blocked. A judge ruled in favor of Dr. Luke’s defamation claims and made Kesha fork over nearly $374,000 in damages. It’s a pretty shitty situation all around, but Fiona tells The Guardian that her issue with Dr. Luke/Tyson Trax’s Grammy nomination isn’t that the Recording Academy is heaping praise on an alleged abuser. It’s the hypocrisy of it all.

Two years ago, at the 60th Grammy Awards, Kesha performed the song “Praying,” which was considered her comeback single after a few years away, fighting Dr. Luke in court. It was very clearly a song about her battle against Dr. Luke. The 60th Grammy Awards were the first ceremony after the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements happened the previous fall, so the Recording Academy invited Kesha do a big, emotional performance of the song, backed up by a choir that included Cyndi Lauper, Andra Day, Camila Cabello, and others. And now, three years later, there’s a chance Dr. Luke could win a Grammy. Fiona Apple was nominated for three Grammy awards this year: Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Performance, and Best Rock Song. And Fiona thinks it’s shitty of the Grammys to “forget” that they supported Kesha not too long ago. via Rolling Stone:

Apple slyly acknowledged that she probably shouldn’t be bringing up the Grammys, she hammered home the fact that Dr. Luke was quietly nominated for Record of the Year for producing Doja Cat’s “Say So” under the pseudonym Tyson Trax.

“They had [Kesha] up there singing “Praying” and now they’re gonna go: ‘Oh, but it’s Tyson Trax!'”

She also kind of called BS on the hip-hip-hoorays the Recording Academy was getting for having an all-female category for Best Rock Performance (the first time in history that that’s happened). Fiona says she was initially excited about the all-female nominees, and considered sending a t-shirt with all their names printed on it to a fan site, but decided against sending it, because – again – the hypocrisy surrounding Dr. Luke/Tyson Trax.

“I threw [the t-shirt] away. I felt like this is exactly what they want me to do: ‘It’s better now! I got nominated! And it’s all women this year and the Grammys are great!’ I keep going back to them putting Kesha on stage like, ‘We believe you’ – and I believe her – then two years later, fucking Tyson Trax.

Not to go back to that word, but it’s bullshit. The feeling of wanting to celebrate with these women was genuine. But I should have that feeling anyway. I don’t know if anybody who’s nominated can help having the thought: What would I do If I won? My vision was that I would just get up there with a sledgehammer and I wouldn’t say anything, I would take the Grammy and smash it into enough pieces to share and I would invite all the ladies up. My second thought was I wonder if I can get all these ladies to boycott this shit because of Dr. Luke.”

Smash all the pieces and toss them out to all the other nominees? How very end of Mean Girls of you, Fiona.

Fiona doesn’t explicitly say that she’ll be staying home in her casual pants on Grammy night. But it really sounds like the Recording Academy shouldn’t count on Fiona to step up to the mic and gush, “Oh my gosh, thanks, you guys!!! This means so much to me!” The only thing they can count on for sure is that Dr. Luke/Tyson Trax will absolutely get booed if “Say So” wins and he goes on stage to collect the award. Whether the booing is from the audience or in Fiona’s living room, again – that has yet to be determined.

Pic: Wenn.com