There was a lot of controversy at this year’s Grammys. Bruno Mars won the album, record and song of the year in one fell swoop and whether you were ecstatic about his win or disappointed (yes, girl I saw Kendrick and Childish Gambino in these categories too), we still have to give him props. If I’ve learned anything from Taylor Swift’s 1989 winning Album of the Year over Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, it’s that taking home big wins like Bruno did as an R&B artist is a rarity. Then we had Lorde, who in an “I won’t be thrown into the dust” gesture wore a dress quoting Jenny Holzer on her back. This came after being denied a solo performance despite all the male nominees for Album of the Year getting one. We also had Alessia Cara who, to much surprise, beat out SZA and Khalid in Best New Artist. Not to mention there was Blue Ivy having Beyoncé hold her snacks and telling her dad to clap softer. And among all this we had… flowers?
Courtesy: E! Online
Perhaps the biggest controversy, which should not be classified as a controversy at all, was the Time’s Up movement. Time’s Up is a movement against sexual harassment that came about as a response to Harvey Weinstein’s gross sexual abuse coming to light. The movement often uses the hashtag #MeToo as a way of showing solidarity and to help show just how many women have been faced with sexual harassment.
The idea of white roses at the Grammys came about from Voices in Entertainment, (formed by Meg Harkins, SVP of Marketing at Roc Nation and Karen Rait, Rhythmic Promotion, Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records). The movement also included 15 women in the industry who sent a letter to their colleagues encouraging them to participate. Stars supporting the movement with the symbolic roses included Lady Gaga, Halsey, Camila Cabello and Kesha. But, it’s important to note that it wasn’t just women in solidarity; Ne-Yo, Ryan Seacrest and Sam Smith, to name a few also wore the roses as well.
With so many people being accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment such as Kevin Spacey, Loius C.K., Russell Simmons, Danny Masterson, Lorin Stein and Ben Affleck (a list of names that are only beginning to scratch the surface) it’s important for movements like these to keep going so people can be reminded that they are not alone, that their story is important and will be heard and that we will no longer support this kind of behavior. We’ve had our white roses so the important question now is what’s next? How do we keep pushing forward?