Tiffany Haddish Says She Passed On Hosting Grammys Pre-Show Because They Refused To Pay Her

Actress Tiffany Haddish shared the reason why she turned down an offer to host the 63rd Grammy Awards‘ pre-telecast ceremony.

In an interview with Variety, Haddish, 40, said that she declined the Recording Academy’s offer to host after she was told she’d have to pay for hair, makeup and wardrobe and receive no monetary compensation for doing the three-hour-long livestreamed event on Jan. 31, 2021.

“All of that would have to come out of my pocket,” the actress said. “I don’t know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it’s disrespectful.” She was referring to her nomination for Best Comedy Album for Netflix’s Black Mitzvah.

“As much as I appreciate the honor of being nominated, that’s not okay,” she continued. “This is something that needs to be addressed. How many other people have they done that to? It’s like a guy asking you on a date but telling you that you have to pay for it.”

Harvey Mason Jr., interim president and CEO of the Recording Academy, posted a video on Instagram on Thursday to address the situation and apologize to the actress.

Mason stated in the video: “It’s just been brought to my attention that the Recording Academy invited Tiffany Haddish to host this year’s premiere ceremony. Unfortunately, and without me knowing, the talent booker working for the Academy told Miss Haddish that we wouldn’t even cover her costs while she hosted this event for us. To me, that was wrong. I’m frustrated by that decision. It was a lapse in judgement. It was in poor taste and it was disrespectful to the creative community. I’m part of the creative community. I know what that feels like, and it’s not right.”

Mason said he also apologized and spoke directly to Haddish about the issue. “I apologized to her personally and I apologized to her from the Academy. I expressed to her my regret and displeasure of how this went down and how it was handled,” he said.

About 70 awards are typically handed out during the Grammys pre-telecast livestream, also known as the Grammy Awards Premiere ceremony, before the main show begins.

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The 63rd Grammy Awards will be hosted by Trevor Noah at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The telecast will begin at 8 p.m. EST, Jan. 31, 2021 on CBS.