“I have something to say about women,” Bridgers, 29, told reporters backstage, according to a video posted on X. “The ex-president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, said that if women want to be nominated and win Grammys that they should step up. He’s also being accused of sexual violence, The New York Post reports.
“And to him I’d like to say I know you’re not dead yet, but when you are, rot in piss,” the “Scotts Street” singer added.
In 2018, Portnow made a comment that women needed “to step up” after only winning 17 out of the 86 categories during the award show.
Last fall, he was sued by a woman who claimed he drugged and raped her in a New York hotel in 2018.
According to the lawsuit, the Recording Academy “aided and abetted” to “protect their reputations and silence Plaintiff and other women in the music industry.”
The lawsuit alleged that the woman, described as an internationally known musician who once played at Carnegie Hall, was lured by Portnow to his hotel.
Portnow reportedly gave her something to drink at the meeting that made her intermittently lose consciousness and he then allegedly proceeded to assault her.
Women also dominated this year’s big four categories with Taylor Swift making history by winning her fourth Album of the Year award, and Miley Cyrus securing Record of the Year for “Flowers.”