Well, Pink Doesn’t Love the Grammys President’s Suggestion That Female Artists ‘Step Up’

Pink. Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

When asked by Variety what his response was to last night’s #GrammysSoMale critique, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow suggested that if women want to win more awards, they’ll need to step up and claim them. “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,” he said in part. “[They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome.” While Portnow also called on the music industry to “make the welcome mat very obvious” to female musicians, some women in the industry couldn’t help but point out that women have been doing nothing but stepping up. Some have even been stepping up into an aerial rig suspended over a stage dozens of feet in the air and turning out jaw-dropping mid-air performances, that’s how much they’ve been stepping up.

And it’s with that in mind that Pink decided to share her thoughts on Portnow’s comment Monday night. “Women in music don’t need to ‘step up,” she declared in a handwritten note 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.” Pink was herself nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance at this year’s Grammys. Last night, Ed Sheeran ended up taking home the prize for his song “Shape of You.”