Marilyn Manson Nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ Grammy for Kanye West Collaboration, Recording Academy Defends Decision

Marilyn Manson Kanye West
Manson by Andreas Lawen, Kanye by David Shankbone. Via Wikipedia.
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In February of this year, shock rocker Marilyn Manson was formally accused of abuse by his former girlfriend, actor Evan Rachael Wood. In the aftermath of this, Manson was also dropped by his label and accused of sexual assault by a former personal assistant, But according to the Recording Academy, Manson is finally worthy of receiving a Grammy. And not just any Grammy — ‘Album of the Year.’

As reported by Blabbermouth, Manson has been nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ due to his collaboration with Kanye West on the rapper’s 2021 release Donda, for which Manson provided some backing vocals. Manson is also nominated for ‘Best Rap Song,’ oddly enough, for his contribution to the track “Jail.”

Manson is not the only alleged sexual abuser nominated this year. According to Consequence of Sound, comedian Louis CK, who has admitted to having made young staff members watch him masturbate, was nominated for ‘Best Comedy Album.’

In response to the harsh criticism this nominations faced, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told The Wrap that his organization “won’t restrict the people who can submit their material for consideration. We won’t look back at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record, we won’t look at anything other than the legality within our rules of, is this recording for this work eligible based on date and other criteria. If it is, they can submit for consideration.

“What we will control is our stages, our shows, our events, our red carpets,” he continued. “We’ll take a look at anyone who is asking to be a part of that, asking to be in attendance, and we’ll make our decisions at that point. But we’re not going to be in the business of restricting people from submitting their work for our voters to decide on.”

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Words by Chris Krovatin