Grammy CEO defends nominating Marilyn Manson despite assault accusations

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason has defended the Academy’s decision to nominate controversial musician Marilyn Manson who was recently accused of sexual assault, reported The Rolling Stone.

Speaking to The Wrap on Tuesday, Mason said that the Academy doesn’t ‘restrict’ individuals from submitting their names for consideration.

“We won’t look back at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record, we won’t look at anything other than the legality within our rules of, is this recording for this work eligible based on date and other criteria. If it is, they can submit for consideration.”

However, he did explain that problematic artists might not get much spotlight during the actual show.

“What we will control is our stages, our shows, our events, our red carpets,” said Mason.

“We’ll take a look at anyone who is asking to be a part of that, asking to be in attendance, and we’ll make our decisions at that point. But we’re not going to be in the business of restricting people from submitting their work for our voters to decide on.”

Marilyn Manson is up for Album of the Year for his work on Kanye West’s Donda and for Best Rap Song for Jail.