The Grammys President Says Women Have to "Step Up" to Win More Awards

Did he not understand the purpose of the white roses?

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Last night at the 2018 Grammys, only *one* of the main nine honors was presented to a woman—yeah, just let that sink in for a minute. This morning The Daily Beast reported that the president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, responded to the gender imbalance at the awards show, but in what could have been the least progressive way possible.

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"I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls—who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level—to step up, because I think they would be welcome,” he told reporters backstage.

And prior to these comments and the announcement of the awards, he had a few other thoughts to share on the red carpet.

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"I believe in equality in the workplace...we’d like to see more women doing the skills many men have been doing for years," he said.

Portnow did address the fact that he hasn't had any “personal experience with the kinds of brick walls that [women] face.”

He continued to say that the industry should focus on "creating mentorships, creating opportunities, not only for women, but for all people. And moving forward, creating that next generation of artists who feel like they can do anything and say anything.”

Regardless, people weren't too thrilled with Portnow. (Especially considering many attendees wore white roses in support of the Time's Up initiative and #MeToo movement.)

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