Fiona Apple Explains Why She Isn’t Attending the Grammys: ‘It’s Not Because I’m Trying to Protest’

Katrina Nattress
·2 min read
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Click here to read the full article on SPIN.

Fiona Apple is up for three Grammys tonight, but despite the venue allowing nominees to attend in person, she won’t be in the building.

The singer-songwriter explained her reason for staying home in a video posted to her friend Zelda Hallman’s Twitter account, and it might not be for the reason you think.

More from SPIN:

“It’s not because I’m trying to protest, even though I have problems with the Grammys, it’s not because of that,” she said. “It’s really because I don’t want to be on national television – I’m just not made for that kind of stuff anymore. I want to stay sober and I can’t do that sober – it doesn’t feel safe to me to be under exposure, scrutiny, comparison to people. I can’t.”

After sharing positive words to the people who want to watch the award show and her peers who are eager to take home a coveted golden gramophone, Apple shifted the discussion.

“There’s been lots of questions about the transparency of the Grammys,” she said. “I feel like that’s important, but it’s not important. What really really is undeniably important is the transparency in actual court rooms.”

Apple ended her message by urging fans to sign a petition to keep courtrooms open to virtual watchers, specifically in PG County where she is part of a watch group.

Watch the full video below.

The 63rd annual Grammys air tonight at 5pm PST and will be hosted by Trevor Noah. Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters (our favorite album of 2020) is up for Best Alternative Album, while its single “Shameika” is up for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. See the full list of nominations here.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest guitarists of all time, click here.