Sam Smith has responded to criticism for his male lead in the Best Artist category at the 2023 BRIT Awards.
The awards, which will take place in London next month, faced controversy after the nominations were announced as this year’s Entertainer of the Year nominees were all men, with Central Cee, Fred again… , George Ezra, Stormzy and Harry Styles on the shortlist.
This is the second year the awards have ditched gender categories in favor of neutral ones, but when it was revealed that the UK Artist of the Year category was exclusively male, the awards drew criticism from fans and industry alike. entertainment.
Smith, who is non-binary and has called for gender-neutral categories to be introduced in 2021, said it was a “shame” to see only one male nominee, adding to The Sunday Times: “Things are moving on, but it’s clear we are until then Looking at that list [de Mejor Artista]there is still a long way to go”.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Smith said. “It seems like it should be easy. [Los Brits] they have to celebrate everyone, because it’s not just artists who get awards. The prizes are for the children they see on TV and think: ‘I can make music like that.’
“When I was young, if I saw more queer people at these awards, my heart would be warm.
After the nominations were announced, several artists took issue with the BRITs over the lack of R&B representation in the Pop/R&B category, including Mahalia.
“Sorry but UK R&B is booming right now,” the singer tweeted. “Forget to put us in this category. Give us our own!!!!! How many times do we have to yell at you?”
He added: “The reason we make and release music is not to win awards. We do it for love. But, at this point, it’s not disrespectful at all.”
Earlier this month Harry Styles was confirmed to perform at the BRIT Awards alongside Sam Smith and Kim Petras (performing their “Unholy” collaboration together), and Wet Leg. Last week Cat Burns was added to the lineup.
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