Pink Has No Time For The Idea That Female Artists Need To ‘Step Up’
Pink was seeing red over recent remarks from Recording Academy president Neil Portnow.
In response to criticism that only one solo female artist won an award at the 2018 Grammys on Sunday, Portnow suggested that if women in music want to win more awards, they need to “step up.”
He later said his words were taken out of context, but not before sparking plenty of backlash.
On Monday, Pink made her thoughts public online.
“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up,’” the “What About Us” singer said in a handwritten letter posted to Twitter. “Women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT. And every year before this.”
She continued, “When we celebrate and honor the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.”
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Pink’s letter seemed to get the party started online. Shortly after she posted her thoughts, pop star Katy Perry spoke out against Portnow as well.
Artist Charli XCX also condemned Portnow’s comments.
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On Sunday, Alessia Cara was the only solo female artist to win an award at the 2018 Grammys, sparking the hashtag #GrammysSoMale. The criticism prompted Portnow to defend the decision to Variety, telling the publication in part:
It has to begin with … women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level … [They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome.
Portnow said in a statement Monday night that his comments had been misinterpreted. He asserted that he believes “women in music face barriers that men have never faced.”
He called for these barriers to be knocked down and that the music industry “must welcome, mentor, and empower” women.
“I regret that I wasn’t as articulate as I should have been in conveying this thought,” he said.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
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