The Grammys might be losing more high-profile attendees. Frank Ocean became the most clear-cut dissenting voice against the awards ceremony when he failed to even submit his album Blonde for voting eligibility last fall. Ocean described the decision as his “Colin Kaepernick moment,” and said, “I think the infrastructure of the awarding system and the nomination system and screening system is dated.” Before that even happened, though, Kanye West said he would not attend the Grammys if Ocean wasn’t nominated. Now TMZ is reporting that in addition to West and Ocean, Justin Bieber and Drake will be skipping out on the Grammys, too. Drake and Bieber’s motivations are not clear — there has not been a statement of protest issued from either performer — but if it ends up they just decided to be elsewhere on Grammy night, that’s an indication in and of itself of where the broadcast lands on their priority list. If Taylor Swift is in attendance, expect a constant, picture-in-picture dance cam to make up for the waning star power.
