Whoopi Goldberg tore into Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo, who whined about Beyoncé's historic win at the 67th Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
For the first time in her career, Queen Bey finally won the coveted "Album of the Year" Grammy for her genre-bending eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, which is significant because she is the first Black woman to win in the category in the 21st century.
The "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" singer also became the first Black woman in 50 years to win "Best Country Album" Grammy for Cowboy Carter.
But leave it to conservatives to grouse about a Black female artist coming out on top in a crowded field of contenders in a competitive industry.
Author Raymond Arroyo downplayed Queen Bey's win and lamented that she's won more Grammys overall than White music artists like Dolly Parton and Frank Sinatra.
During The Ingraham Angle's "Seen and Unseen" segment, Arroyo told the eponymous Fox host:
"Dolly Parton has 10 grammys, Frank Sinatra had 11 grammys. Beyoncé has 35. How is that possibly commensurate with that talent? I mean come on."
He also claimed that "everybody votes in every genre" and that basically, "Lady Gaga's cat-sitter votes for Best Reggae and Best Country Album," which led to "this ridiculous outcome."
You can hear Arroyo's grousing here.
On a recent episode of The View, moderator Whoopi Goldberg fired back at Arroyo and schooled him on the Grammy-voting process.
"Sir, are you aware that you have to be in the music industry to be a Grammy voter? So, the cat sitter can't just vote," she said.
"Are you aware that when the Grammys began in 1959, there were only 28 categories, now there are 94?"
"The year that Frank Sinatra got six nominations despite having two No. 1 albums, he only won one Grammy that night for his album cover—not even for his singing, for the album cover."
"Listen, man. You can't do that. She earned it," she said.
Entertainment Weekly noted that at the 1959 ceremony, Sinatra received only four nominations, not six, but did still win in the one category for Best Recording Package.
Goldberg, who has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Oscars' Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, continued laying into Arroyo.
"You want to hold onto country music like White people, like, White people didn't also buy [Beyoncé's] country album. C'mon man. People voted for it."
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't—just like the Oscars. Sit down," added the EGOT winner.
People weighed in on Arroyo's griping.
You can hear Goldberg's comments from The View episode, here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
Cowboy Carter smashed records upon its release as the most streamed album in a single day on Spotify in 2024.
With 76 million streams globally in a single day on the platform, Cowboy Carter became the sixth-highest first-day count for any female album, and the highest for any album by a Black female artist.
Beyoncé was snubbed at the 2024 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards despite the Beyhive's embrace of Cowboy Carter, as well as being the year's biggest new country album that marked the first time a Black woman topped the country charts.
She has expressed feeling "unwelcome" in the genre, a sentiment that has been shared by other music artists of color, likely due to executives catering towards White consumers.
Some experts noted a perception that Bey didn't fully integrate into the Nashville music scene that could have contributed to her inability to connect with country music listeners.
However, country music legend Dolly Parton gave Queen Bey the biggest endorsement of Cowboy Carter after praising her cover of Parton's iconic song "Jolene."
“Wow, I just heard 'Jolene'. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!” said Parton of Beyoncé's take on the song.
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