Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame Will she or won’t she? ABC News has been told that nominee Ariana Grande will not attend or perform at the Grammys this Sunday night, but at least one of the people in charge of the telecast seems less sure.
According to an unconfirmed report, Ariana decided not to perform because the telecast organizers wouldn’t allow her to perform the song she wanted in the way that she wanted. When ABC Radio’s Jason Nathanson asked Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich about Ariana, he said, “She’s not gonna perform this year. We would love to have her next year but uh, it just didn’t work out this year.”
When Nathanson asked if Ehrlich could talk about why it didn’t work out, he responded, “[I’d] rather not.”
However, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow sang a different tune when Nathanson asked him about Ariana’s potential participation.
“We love Ariana, and she’s been on our show, and we’re huge fans of her work,” Portnow said. “And frankly, it’s live television, and until we’re there, there’s really not too much I can say because we don’t know how that’s gonna come out.”
“So she might be performing?” Nathanson asked.
“As I said, we don’t know what happens until we get there on Sunday,” Portnow replied.
Ariana is nominated for two Grammy Awards on Sunday: Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener and Best Pop Vocal Performance for “God Is a Woman.” The Grammys air on CBS live from Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET.
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