Harvey Mason Jr, the CEO and President of the Recording Academy, has defended 2022 Grammy nominations being awarded to Marilyn Manson and Louis CK, two men who have been accused of sexual abuse or misconduct.
Manson, who has had numerous allegations of sexual assault and physical and psychological abuse made against him by several former partners, received nods for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for his collaboration on Kanye West's album Donda.
Meanwhile, comedian Louis CK was nominated for Best Comedy Album after having admitted to sexual misconduct with multiple women in 2017.
Mason Jr told The Wrap the Academy "won't restrict the people who can submit their material for consideration", but did hint that it may be more discerning when handing out red carpet invites.
"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," Mason Jr said in a statement.
"What we will control is our stages, our shows, our events, our red carpets. 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."
Manson, who remains the subject of multiple sexual assault lawsuits, was dropped by his record label Loma Vista records in light of the allegations against him. Those began when his ex-fiancee Evan Rachel Wood accused him of "grooming her" when she was a teenager and "horrifically abusing her for years".
A recent investigation by Rolling Stone based on court documents and more than 55 interviews detailed testimonials from many of Manson's exes with allegations of torture, rape and imprisonment, among other violations.
Other controversial characters nominated for the 2022 Grammys include comedian Dave Chapelle, who recently came under fire for his comments about transgender people in his latest Netflix stand up special, along with rapper DaBaby, who faced backlash after making homophobic remarks during a performance at Rolling Loud festival in July.
