[ad_1]
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 4: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Taylor Swift accepts the “Album of the Year” award for “Midnights” onstage during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Taylor Swift’s team reportedly immediately went into “damage control” mode at the 66th Grammy Awards on Sunday night after her boss snatched the Album of the Year trophy from her hands. Céline Dion, without thanking the legendary singer or any other recognition. her monumental appearance at the final award ceremony of the night.
One industry insider, who attended the Grammys and observed Swift’s curious disdain for Dion onstage, described her team’s “damage control” PR efforts.
“I spoke to someone backstage. Taylor’s team knew immediately this was a misstep,” said Matthew Belloni, co-founder of digital media company Puck. said in his “The CityMonday podcast. “They were scrambling to get a photo of Taylor with Celine Dion, which they quickly posted, and that was damage control for the ‘Celine Moment.’”
In fact, photos soon began circulating of Swift and Dion backstage, smiling and hugging, as if to let everyone know that the most famous woman in the world certainly had no intention of disrespecting the 55-year-old Canadian superstar, and people were wrong to perceive the moment that way. In any case, the photos seem to say, there is nothing but love between these two women.
And yet on Monday people continued to debate the “Celine Moment” – or “Le Snub,” as Montreal Gazette music columnist Brendan Kelly put it. Dubbed the incident.. According to page six, Dion didn’t let the Swift incident bother her; She was just “nice and happy to be there,” a source said.
According to Belloni, it was one of two public relations “missteps” involving Swift accepting awards at the Grammys on Sunday night. He and his podcast guest, Bloomberg News entertainment reporter Lucas Shaw, agreed that it was “in poor taste” for Swift to use her previous speech, accepting the award for Best Pop Album for “Midnights,” to give the big shout out. and surprise at the news that he was launching. a new album in April.
“I want to thank the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my new album is coming out on April 19,” Swift said, while revealing that the album is called “The Poets Department.” Tortured.”
Swift is a “master manipulator and guide of her own image,” Belloni said. “It was a rare misstep,” the album announced during her speech. She could be felt in the room. “No one was actually applauding, except that section of Swifties who were going crazy.”
“(The camera) went to the stars and no one was really interested,” Belloni continued. “I just felt like this is the last person who needs that stage for promotion, at least in the room. She is the biggest music star on the planet right now. I mean, let it rest.”
Shaw also said that Swift’s “aw, gee” look when she wins awards these days is “total horse (expletive).” Belloni agreed, saying, “Maybe that will work in 2010, when you’re the girl from Nashville. “It doesn’t work in 2024 when you have a (billion-dollar) tour.”
As for Swift’s “Celine Moment,” it came at the end of the show, featuring a surprise appearance by Dion and what would be Swift’s historic fourth album of the year win.
Dion has largely stayed out of the spotlight since announcing in December 2022 that she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome. Business Insider reported. Dion said the condition causes spasms, makes walking difficult and creates problems with his vocal cords. She also canceled the remaining dates of her Courage World Tour.
When Dion took the stage to present the award for Album of the Year, as her song “The Power of Love” played at the Crypto.com Stadium, she received a standing ovation. Dion had won the award in 1997 for “Falling Into You.”
Swift was among those who defended Dion, and her defenders say she paid tribute to her at the time. In fact, the camera showed Swift, clapping, dancing and singing “The Power of Love.”
But the crowd’s celebration of Dion was soon overshadowed by Swift’s actions. After Dion excitedly announced Swift’s name, Time magazine’s Person of the Year offered one of her surprised looks. She then grabbed and hugged her “Midnights” collaborators, producer Jack Antonoff and singer Lana Del Rey. Swift also brought them on stage with her, although Del Rey seemed reluctant to join her. Del Rey, a featured guest artist on “Midnights,” was nominated in the same category for her own album, “Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?”
Things continued to get even more “strange” after Swift hugged several other people on stage, including her recording engineer Laura Sisk, Montreal Gazette’s Kelly wrote. But she didn’t approach Dion until it was time to grab the trophy from her.
Even then, when Swift took the award, she didn’t say a word to Dion and didn’t look at her, leaving Dion looking “very uncomfortable, clearly wondering why Swift was ignoring her,” Kelly wrote.
People online immediately began to wonder why Swift had “snubbed” Dion. In real time, the Internet exploded with outrage over Swift’s perceived slight toward Dion.
In “The Town,” Belloni unfavorably compared Swift’s visible disdain for Dion to Adele, who graciously bowed to Dion, made an “I’m not worthy” hand gesture, and hugged her when accepting the same award from her in 2017. A Page Six source said: “Of course, the right thing to do would have been for Taylor to acknowledge (Dion), like Adele did years ago.”
Belloni said Swift, who has been famous and accepted major industry awards for more than a decade, including 14 Grammy Awards as of Sunday night, definitely should have known better.
“Traditionally, public relations people say, when you go on stage, make sure you recognize the person who’s giving you the award,” he said. “Usually, Taylor knows that he shouldn’t just take the award and try to get his friends (on stage) to celebrate his big win.”
Kelly was also suspicious of the way Swift’s backstage photo with Dion suddenly appeared. “Not long after the uproar broke out, a photo interestingly also appeared online showing Swift and Dion hugging backstage. For Swifties, this was case closed,” Kelly said.
“To more objective observers (well, to this Team Céline observer), the quick release of the photo smacked very much of Team Swift going into full-scale damage control mode,” Kelly said. “I met their PR team and these people control the media as well as you would expect.”
Kelly described “Le Snub” as one of the strangest situations he has seen at a televised awards show. She also doubted that Swift was simply “caught up in the moment,” given her experience in the business. “If I had to hazard a guess… I’d say it was just Swift being a little self-absorbed,” Kelly said.
But Belloni said the “Celine moment” could be forgotten on Sunday. That’s when the world will likely be in a frenzy because Swift will fly to Las Vegas from her Eras World Tour performances in Japan to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs battle the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
See more at The Mercury News