Village People’s Victor Willis Slams The Weeknd For Grammy Protest: “Lighten Up”

Village People founder, Victor Willis tore into The Weeknd on Facebook, Monday, for his continued protest of the Grammy Awards. Willis implied The Weeknd is a hypocrite for his refusal to participate in the award ceremony.

“Pssst, “The Weeknd,” lighten up on the Grammys already why don’t cha!?” he wrote in the statement on Facebook.

The Weeknd, Grammys
Pool / Getty Images

He continued:

You see, while black artists like me were making honest complaints about the secret committees, you were busy racking up one Grammy after another under those secret committees. I don’t recall you complaining about the secret committees when you were benefitting from those secret committees. But on the one occasion the secret committees didn’t benefit you, the Grammys are suddenly corrupt, and it’s off with their heads?

Willis also told The Weeknd to cut Harvey Mason Jr. “some slack.” Mason signed on to be the new chief of the Academy in early 2020.

He explained that Mason is “making real, meaningful and historic changes that will likely benefit the music business for decades to come.”

It was reported, last week, that the Grammys would be removing secret voting committees in response to the backlash sparked by The Weeknd.

[Via]