Shortly after American actress, Tiffany Haddish, said that she had been invited to host the Grammy Awards Premiere ceremony but turned down the offer after being told that she would have to foot her bills, Recording Academy interim chief, Harvey Mason, jr. posted a public apology on social media.
Mason, who took the job on an interim basis last January, said that he had apologized to her personally as well. He noted that he had been unaware of the offer and the conversation, Variety.com reports.
A tired-looking Mason said in an Instagram message posted in the wee hours of Thursday morning, “It’s just been brought to my attention that the Recording Academy invited Tiffany Haddish to host this year’s Premiere ceremony. Unfortunately and without my knowing, the talent booker working for the Academy told Ms Haddish that we wouldn’t even cover her costs while she hosted this event for us.
“To me that was wrong. I’m frustrated by that decision. It was a lapse in judgment, it was in poor taste, and it was disrespectful to the creative community — I’m part of the creative community and I know what that feels like, and it’s not right.”
He noted that he had spoken to the comedienne and personally apologised to her for the occurrence.
“Thankfully, Ms Haddish was gracious enough to allow me to have a conversation with her. I apologized to her personally, I apologized from the Academy, and I expressed to her my regret and my displeasure about how this went down and how it was handled. And I will say. Tiffany, we are sorry and thank you for allowing me to speak on it.”
Earlier this week, Haddish had been asked to host the three-hour live-streamed event without any compensation, and also that she would have to cover her own cover hair, makeup and wardrobe expenses.
“All of that would have to come out of my pocket,” she said, adding, “I don’t know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it’s disrespectful.”
Haddish is nominated for her second Grammy this year for best comedy album for Netflix’s “Black Mitzvah” following her first nomination last year for spoken word for “The Last Black Unicorn.” The 63rd Grammys will hold on January 31, 2021.
