Grammys president hits out at racism accusations: 'We don’t have any kind of issue’

The president of the Grammy Awards has hit out at allegations of racism after Beyoncé lost out to Adele at this year’s ceremony.

Neil Portnow has denied that here is any kind of ‘race problem’ within the voting panel, insisting that ‘gender, race and ethnicity’ never come into it.

Speaking out following a backlash over the fact that 25 was named Album of the Year rather than Lemonade, he told Pitchfork:

“I don’t think there’s a race problem at all… It’s always hard to create objectivity out of something that’s inherently subjective, which is what art and music is about. We do the best we can.

“We don’t, as musicians, in my humble opinion, listen to music based on gender or race or ethnicity.

“When you go to vote on a piece of music—at least the way that I approach it—is you almost put a blindfold on and you listen.”

Portnow went on to deny that there were similarities between the diversity crisis at last year’s Oscars, sparking the ‘#OscarsSoWhite’ campaign.

“Well, they may have had a problem. We don’t have that kind of an issue in that same fashion,” he said.

A number of upset Beyoncé fans took to social media to complain that the singer had been snubbed following Sunday’s ceremony.

The award sparked a race row on Twitter with users pointing out that the last black woman to win Album of the Year was Lauryn Hill in 1999.

“@CNNent @Adele Who cares about the words. NO black female winning Album of the Year since Lauryn Hill(1999) is the real crime here. #Grammys,” wrote one person.