Drake was making a multitude of good great points when his words were superseded by a peculiarly timed commercial break during Sunday night's Grammys broadcast. The move, which saw the Best Rap Song winner's impassioned plea for young creatives to value fans over accolades cut off with a dangling "but..." transition, quickly became a leading discussion topic among ceremony attendees and at-home viewers alike.
Now, the Powers That Be are claiming a "natural pause" was detected. In a statement to Variety after the show wrapped, PR firm Sunshine Sachs also said show producers had a quick chat with Drake following the interrupted moment of candor.
"During Drake's speech, there was a natural pause and at that moment the producers did assume that he was done and then cut to commercial," Sunshine Sachs' Michael Samonte said late Sunday. "However, the producers did speak with Drake following his speech and did offer him to come back on stage to finish whatever his thoughts were. But Drake said he was happy with what he said and didn't have anything to add."
Reps for the Recording Academy did not immediately respond to Complex's request for additional comment.
If you missed the speech, Drake took the opportunity to urge any burgeoning artist who might be watching to keep the very idea of awards in perspective. "Look, if there's people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain and snow, spending money to buy tickets to your shows, you don't need this right here," he told those gathered at the Staples Center in Los Angeles when he accepting the award for his ubiquitous "God's Plan" cut. "You already won."
"God's Plan" producer Boi-1da also didn't seem to be sweating the cut-off speech, as he was all blockbusters and smiles at the evening's Universal Music Group after-party where he performed a surprise set to a DTLA assortment of top-tier artists and writers. Niall Horan, Terry Crews, Beck, Kacey Musgraves, Hailee Steinfeld, and Maggie Rogers were also in attendance.
