Picket-Free Grammy Awards Night

By Jane Ivory
13:54, January 23rd 2008
73 votes
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Picket-Free Grammy Awards Night

The good news has come: the striking Hollywood writers announced Tuesday that next month’s Grammy Awards would not be picketed, as previously threatened, for the sake of “brothers and sisters” in two unions representing musical performers.

Fears over the Feb. 10 Grammy show being picketed by striking Hollywood writers were allayed Tuesday when the Writers Guild of America announced it would spare the festivity of such manifestations.

Writers Guild leaders said the decision was “made on behalf of our brothers and sisters” in two unions that represent musical performers, the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which had asked for a “waiver” for the Grammys last week.

AFM and AFTRA expressed their support for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which sponsors the Grammys, last Tuesday, issuing a joint statement urging “our members to support the important work of the Recording Academy by participating in the Grammy events.”

Tuesday’s announcement was well received by the unions as well as by the academy and CBS, which will carry the live telecast from the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

“We are gratified that the 50th annual Grammy Awards will focus solely on the great music, artists and charitable work resulting from our show,” academy spokesman Neil Portnow said.

Should the WGA had decided to picket the Grammys, there was a risk of celebrating the event’s 50th anniversary with some notable absences from nominees that are also members of the Screen Actors Guild, which supports the striking writers.

Absences from the likes of Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Tim McGraw, Jon Bon Jovi, Barbra Streisand and Jack White, nominees who all have movie or TV credits, would have put a damper on what is usually referred to as the biggest night of the music industry.

The Golden Globes have already been turned from a glamorous event to a celebrity-free news conference and the possibility of WGA picketing is still looming over the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. Organizers have been adamant that the show will go on as scheduled on Feb. 24 regardless of the ongoing WGA strike.



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Tags: Grammy, WGA
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