Ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies. That’s the makeup of this year’s Best Rock Performance Grammy nominees. But one nominee, Fiona Apple, will not be attending the ceremony, which airs tonight on CBS at 8 p.m. ET. Apple took to friend Zelda Hallman’s Instagram to post a video explaining that she won’t be attending because she doesn’t feel safe in her sobriety, under the level of exposure that a nationally televised event like the Grammys presents, saying, “It’s not because I’m trying to protest, even though I have problems with the Grammys. It’s not because of that I’m not going. It’s just really because I don’t want to be on national television. I’m just not made for that kind of stuff anymore. I want to stay sober and I can’t do that sober. It doesn’t feel safe to me, to be in that kind of exposure, scrutiny, comparison to people.†Apple then took the opportunity to draw attention to threats to transparency in the judicial system, saying, “There’s been lots of questions about the transparency of the Grammys, and I feel like that’s important but it’s not important. I care but I don’t care. What really, really is undeniably important is the transparency in actual court rooms. And for that reason, I want to ask anybody who’s looking at this to please sign this petition to keep the virtual access to courts open for court watchers. Specifically for PG County, Maryland, which is the court-watching group that I’m part of. They’re trying to shut us out, and you gotta question it.†She does hope that “everybody who’s into the Grammys has a wonderful time watching them,†though, so that’s nice.
Update, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.: On Sunday’s Premiere Ceremony, Fiona won for Best Rock Performance and Best Alternative Album, but according to Zelda, she was fast asleep through it all. “Woke her up to ask if she wanted to know & she closed her eyes,†Hallman tweeted. Do not disturb!