Halsey appears to have referred to her 2020 Grammys snub as she accepted her first-ever American Music Awards win on Sunday night.
The singer, 25, won favorite pop/rock song for her hit single “Without Me.” During her emotional acceptance speech, she seemingly called out the Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammys.
“I grew up watching shows like this and I would sit at home wide-eyed and watch artists in these beautiful gowns and handsome suits, like, stroll up the stairs to the stage and they would hold up these awards and they were usually gold-plated and shiny and weighted, these, like, metaphors, these trophies that were supposed to be some kind of validation for the soul-crushing and heartache-inducing work that they put into writing a song and bringing it to life. And to be honest with you, I really believed that fairy tale,” Halsey (real name: Ashley Frangipane) began.
Check out PEOPLE’s full AMAs coverage to get the latest news on one of music’s biggest nights.
RELATED: Taylor Swift Fans and BTS Fans Outraged After 2020 Grammy Nominations Snubs
“I believed these awards. When I was a kid, I used to believe that this award was the ultimate validating and that I’d come up here and laugh and cry and my fans at home would rejoice because we accomplished this thing together,” Halsey continued. “But the truth is I am older now and I’m also an artist and apparently I’m doing okay. But most of these awards really aren’t what they seem at all.”
.@halsey's "Without Me" is your #AMAs Favorite Song - Pop/Rock! pic.twitter.com/MlnW7XKOek
— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 25, 2019
RELATED: Halsey and Boyfriend Evan Peters Share a Sweet Kiss During Beach Date
Though the Grammy 2020 nominations are looking great for artists including first-time nominees Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X — fans noticed that musicians like Halsey, Taylor Swift, BTS, Maren Morris, and Bruce Springsteen were left out in some categories.
Halsey was also nominated for artist of the year at the AMAs, which went to her pal Taylor Swift. The singer hit the AMAs stage twice at the 2019 show — first to perform her song “Graveyard” during which she and a lookalike performer dressed in identical all white outfits splattered paint on one another throughout the song. Later, when Swift was performing a medley of hits for her artist of the decade honors, Halsey joined her and Camila Cabello to perform “Shake It Off.” She wore a Redemption dress during her acceptance speech.
The 2019 American Music Awards were broadcast live on ABC from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. EST.
