Spike Lee was speaking for all of the BeyHive when he sounded off about why he thought the Grammys denied Beyoncé the album of the year award.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar-winning writer and director spoke with The Guardian saying that while he’s “not the male president of the Bey Hive,” he does “love and support” the singer and is here for her latest album, Renaissance, intimating that the Grammys have it out for the singer when it comes not giving her album of the year four times.
This time, Beyoncé lost to Harry Styles, despite becoming the singer with the most Grammy wins in history.
“I know she’s won multiple Grammys, but four times nominated for album of the year and she’s lost every time?” he said. “No disrespect to those artists like Adele or Harry Styles who won. It’s not their fault, but that’s some straight-up bulls**t.”
“There’s a history of great Black artists who come up for these awards and don’t win,” he continued. “We all know their work is great because art speaks for itself. But then it always comes down to this tricky territory of validation. Do Black artists say: ‘F— it– or seek white validation and chase awards?”
He ended his thoughts by saying, “We know what the deal is…It’s straight-up shenanigans, skullduggery, subterfuge. Or as the British say: it’s some poppycock.”
Fans have written about their disgust with the Grammy nominating committee for its decision-making, also feeling like Black artists are often given the shaft over others, namely white artists.