From questionable costumes to debatable actions, this year’s Grammys sparked a lot of debate and controversy amongst viewers.
The winner of this year’s best country album was Beyonce with her album Cowboy Carter, but due to the belief that Beyonce’s album did not embody the nature of a country album, this announcement led to a lot of angry people questioning the Grammys validity. It is assumed that Beyonce stole the opportunity of aspiring country artists just because of her previous fame. Her win is seen as unfair and underserved by thousands.
“In my opinion, Beyonce should not have won the award because her album wasn’t really country,” junior Alisha khan said. “But I do think her win breaks racial stereotypes and reinforces the idea that no matter what race you are you can still win.”
Kanye West has had many controversial Grammy moments throughout the years, however, few were about something as simple as a costume. This year, his wife Bianca Censori walked the red carpet in a thick coat, which later revealed to be hiding a sheer, nearly transparent, dress. The idea of this costume was to recreate the cover of his recent album Vultures 1 where we see Censori in a similar attire, with only a sheer cloth covering her. This stunt caused a lot of outrage and led to theories claiming that West encouraged his wife to reveal the dress, despite her “obvious” discomfort.
“Bianca Censori’s costume for the Grammys was definitely an influence of Kanye West, ” sophomore Sadie Baker said. “During the show you can clearly see him pressuring her into taking the coat off even though you could tell she didn’t want to.”
Despite seven nominations in 2025, Billie Eilish has not been able to win her 11th grammy. The most devastating loss seems to be the victory of Beyonce, who won album of the year with the album Cowboy Carter, over Eillish’s hit album Hit Me Hard and Soft. This loss was highly highlighted at the event’s broadcast when Eilish was shown many times tearing up during Beyonce’s speech.
“I like both artists, but Billie Eilish definitely has better music,” senior Nikitha Nivas said. “She got way more recognition for her album than Beyonce, so she should have won.”
Trevor Noah’s commedic attempts at the Grammys resulted in an unintentional jab towards immigrants. It was clear that the intention of the jokes were aimed to insult Trump, but it backfired after he inadvertently used the topic of immigration to deliver the punchline. The joke’s criticism seemed to be supported after various celebrities reacted poorly to the statement.
“I was shocked to hear the comment that was made during the Grammys, and especially from the host,” junior Shakeel Abdulkareem said. “ There are many ways to joke about the president without offending other people.”
Jaden Smith sparked recent media conversation about his costume to the Grammys this year. It consisted of a suit and a black headpiece from ABODI that represented a vampire castle. Footage of his attire led viewers scrambling to find a deeper meaning to his costume choice, however, there is no confirmed purpose, due to the costumes’ simplicity and random nature.
“I’m not exactly sure what Jaden Smith was trying to do with the costume, but it looked ridiculous,” junior Tarun Alex said. “He was probably trying to become the talk of the Grammys this year, but it just made him look immature.”
