When Sean “Diddy” Combs accepted the Salute to Industry Icons Award at the Clive Davis and Recording Academy’s Pre-Grammy Gala last evening (Jan. 25), he brought the elephant in the room—the broiling controversy surrounding the Academy—front and center. Catching everyone in the Beverly Hilton Hotel ballroom by surprise, he threw down his own gauntlet to the Academy on behalf of artists and other music industry creatives: “You’ve got 365 days’ notice to get this sh-t together.”
The admonishment came in the last six minutes of Combs’ 40-minute speech after he’d accepted the award from the Recording Academy’s board chairman and interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. Standing before a diverse audience that included Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Jimmy Iovine, Keith Urban, Joni Mitchell, Dua Lipa, Cardi B, Migos, Janet Jackson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and other members of the Academy’s board of trustees, Combs revealed that he’d “been conflicted” about receiving the award in the days leading up to the gala.
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