On Sunday night, only one major Grammy Award went to a woman, Alessia Cara for Best New Artist.
Monday morning, the Grammys Recording Academy President Neil Portnow came under protest after he said women need to 'step up.'
By Thursday night, Portnow announced plans for an independent task force to examine the structure of the academy in an attempt to prevent another male-dominated awards show.
According to Page Six, the Grammy president released a statement saying the task force was created to "review every aspect of what we do as an organization … to overcome the explicit barriers and unconscious biases that impede female advancement in the music community."
Originally, Portnow doubled back on his comments, saying that they are "not reflective of my beliefs, echo the real experience of too many women. I’d like to help make that right.”
The outrage on social media was backed by many leading women in the music industry including Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Halsey, Charli XCX and Katy Perry.
Clarkson tweeted out, "A confused soul said women need 2 “step up” their A-game if they wanna start winning & u know what I’m not even mad at ignorance. I’m just gonna kindly point u n the direction of my A-game album I recently dropped #MeaningOfLife #UrWelcome I Jenna Dewan’d that shit y’all #stepup."
Vanessa Carlton came forward signing a petition for Portnow to step down, saying that "a new president will enact change."
The sentiment shared about Portnow's comments is that women are already stepping up.
On Thursday, an open letter written by industry female executives calling for the resignation of Portnow was released, according to Billboard.
“Your most recent remarks do not constitute recognition of women’s achievements, but rather a call for men to take action to ‘welcome’ women. We do not await your welcome into the fraternity. We do not have to sing louder, jump higher or be nicer to prove ourselves.”