Taylor Swift’s team allegedly went into panic mode after she appeared to snub Céline Dion at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
On Monday’s episode of Spotify’s The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw made an appearance to discuss all things Grammys.
On the agenda of conversation was Swift, who went home with two trophies for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for 2022's Midnights.
After Swift made her way to the stage to accept Album of the Year, viewers at home noticed that she seemingly didn’t make eye contact with Céline Dion when physically retrieving the award from her.
Dion presented the honor, marking a rare public appearance since the 55-year-old's health complications with a rare autoimmune disease first made headlines in 2022. Swift’s perceived snub inevitably sparked a number of reactions online, with some calling it “disrespectful” and “cringey.”
A source on-site at the Grammys told Belloni that Swift’s team “immediately” knew they had to course correct.
“I talked to someone who was backstage and the Taylor camp knew immediately it was a misstep, and they were scrambling backstage to get a photo of Taylor with CélineDion, which they promptly put out and that was damage control for the Célinemoment,” Belloni said on the podcast at the 8:25 mark.
“Traditionally, the PR people will say when you go on stage, ‘Make sure you acknowledge the person who is giving you the award.’ … Taylor typically knows better than to grab the award and try to summon pals to celebrate their big win,” Belloni added.
Belloni and Shaw also discussed the moment that Swift announced her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, while accepting the trophy for Best Pop Vocal Album.
“I personally thought it wasn’t the greatest move. You just won an award and you wanna use that to promote yourself even more?” said Shaw, who also called Swift a “master capitalist.”
“I thought her speech for Album of the Year was a total mess, but I really can’t knock the hustle. … If you count the re-recordings and the new albums, this will be her eighth album in less than four years, that’s insane, while putting on the biggest concert tour in music industry history.”
The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s ninth studio LP and will arrive on April 19.
Last week, Dion revealed that a new documentary called I Am: Céline Dion directed by Oscar-nominee Irene Taylor will be released on Prime Video.
In a press statement, the doc is being called a “snapshot of a pivotal time in the life and career of one of the most recognized, respected, and successful performers in pop music history, Céline Dion.” A release date has yet to be announced.
