The purpose of award shows is obviously to honour the achievements of various creatives within Hollywood and the music industry. Unfortunately, they also often cause a great deal of drama. When nominees are first announced, the internet immediately begins to speculate about frontrunners. Elsewhere, those left out of their relevant categories vent about being snubbed. Some are experts at allowing such instances to roll off their shoulders. Others, such as SZA's manager, Punch, aren't willing to tolerate the disrespect.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the TDE executive revealed why his client didn't take the stage at this week's MTV Video Music Awards as fans expected. "Obviously, she had one of the best years, if not the best year, of any artist at this point. I don’t see why she wouldn’t be nominated for artist of the year," Punch reflected on SZA's snub. "It just really didn’t make any sense to me. It’s disrespectful." Among those who were recognized this year are Karol G, Doja Cat, Beyonce, Shakira, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift.
The Speak Now hitmaker came out on top in the end. Interestingly, Punch says he couldn't get a clear answer as to why SZA wasn't considered alongside her. "It was just, ‘Well, she’s nominated for all these other [awards],’" he recalled. "Even with the other artists that were nominated for artist of the year, some of them were even off-cycle. They didn’t have an album out. I mean, no disrespect to them or anybody else; everybody’s great and all of that, but still, you can’t discredit what 'SOS' has done and is currently doing."
We may not have seen her grace the star-studded roster of performers at the 2023 VMAs, but that doesn't mean SZA left her fanbase hanging. During a recent NYFW performance, the "Drew Barrymore" songbird confirmed that the deluxe cut of her SOS album is on the way this fall. In addition to that, this New Music Friday (September 15) also gave us "Slime You Out" with Drake and an acoustic version of "Snooze" featuring Justin Bieber. Tap into the latter at the link below, and let us know if you think Punch should've let SZA perform in the comments.
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