While there have been movements on social media to "cancel" controversial comedians Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K., both performers are nominated for Grammy Awards. Recently, the nominees were announced for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards which will be held in L.A. in February. Chappelle is up for Best Comedy Album for The Closer, which previously generated tremendous backlash upon its premiere on Netflix. Louis C.K. is also nominated in the same category for his latest album, Sorry.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. touched on the nominations. He points out that the nominees chosen don't reflect the personal opinions of the people in the organization. With that said, Mason also suggests that the power is with the voters when it comes to who's nominated, so regardless of personal feelings, he doesn't feel that it would be fair to remove any that have been chosen.
"Well, we don’t control who the voters vote for. If the voters feel like a creator deserves a nomination, they’re going to vote for them. The thing that we can control is making sure that people that attend our events feel safe. If there’s someone that’s been nominated that we don’t necessarily agree with, we’re not going to remove a nomination."
Mason goes on to further explain this way of thinking. He stresses that the art, comedy specials in this case, must be looked at on its own without consideration of the artist's controversies. What's most important is keeping everyone safe at the event and there's much more focus put into this area rather than getting more involved with who the voters ultimately decide to nominate.
"We’re never going to be in the business of deciding someone’s moral position or where we evaluate them to be on the scale of morality. I think our job is to evaluate the art and the quality of the art. We can make sure that all of our spaces are safe and people don’t feel threatened by anyone. But as far as the nominations or the awards, we really let the voters make that decision."
Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K. Continue to Perform
Both Chappelle and C.K. are performing despite their past controversies. Chappelle just recently hosted Saturday Night Live which set a season-high rating for the series, and continues to tour with his stand-up comedy. C.K. is also back into acting, having premiered his latest film Fourth of July earlier this year. He's been touring as well in and out of the United States.
The Grammy Awards will go down on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023 on CBS. It will also stream live and be available to watch on demand via Paramount+.