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The Recording Academy’s Interim Chief Harvey Mason, Jr. is speaking out after Tiffany Haddish blasted the Grammys.
Haddish says she was asked to host their pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony, but The Recording Academy had no plans to pay her for her labor. The comedian reveals they were not going to cover any of her expenses for the night either (hair, makeup, wardrobe, etc). “All of that would have to come out of my pocket,” she told Variety. “I don’t know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it’s disrespectful.”
After the article went viral, Mason, Jr. took to Instagram to reveal he has apologized to Haddish privately. He also said he had no knowledge of the issue and agrees that it was disrespectful.
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In a video clip, he explained:
“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, I know what that feels like, and it’s not right.”
“Thankfully, Ms. Haddish was gracious enough to allow me to have a conversation with her,” he went on. “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. Again I want to say, Tiffany, we are sorry and thank you for allowing me to speak on it.”
See his official apology below.
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