Celine Dion and Taylor Swift hugged it out backstage at the 2024 Grammy Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4 following accusations that the latter snubbed the music legend on stage.
The "Cruel Summer" singer won Album of the Year at the recent music awards for her work on "Midnights," making her the only artist to have won the much-coveted gramophone four times. She won it previously for "Fearless," "1989" and "Folklore".
Dion presented the award, much to the surprise of the star-studded audience. The five-time Grammy winner walked out to the stage to her hit "The Power of Love" escorted by her eldest son, René-Charles Angélil. The 23-year-old stood by his mother's side as she gave a meaningful speech in which she reflected on her career.
The 55-year-old has been battling Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that commonly causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms. The condition had prompted her to cancel her Las Vegas residency in 2021. She also postponed her scheduled shows to get treatment, so she was met with a standing ovation when she walked out the stage.
"Thank you all. I love you right back. When I say that I'm happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart," Dion said.
She continued: "Those who have been blessed enough to be here, the Grammy Awards, must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to people all around the world. And now it gives me great joy to present a Grammy Award that two legends — Diana Ross and Sting — presented to me 27 years ago."
Swift hugged her entourage but failed to acknowledge Dion's presence as she received the award. The moment was caught on camera and netizens were quick to accuse her of snubbing and disrespecting a music legend, who presented the award despite her health condition. The footage showed Dion looking slightly awkward after Swift received her award.
My biggest disappointment of the Grammys was Taylor Swift winning Album of the year and hugging all of her people but taking the trophy from Celine Dion as if she was the hat-check girl, and not seeming to realize how very amazing it was that Celine was standing there at all.
— Beverley Smith (@BevSmithWrites) February 5, 2024
The point is, it was completely amazing that Celine Dion was standing there in the first place. And she's had to give up her very successful career because of stiff person syndrome. It bowled me over that she was there.
— Beverley Smith (@BevSmithWrites) February 5, 2024
One called her behaviour "cringey" writing: "Taylor Swift just took the album of the year trophy from Celine Dion without batting an eye and/or acknowledging that a legendary [sic] was handing her the award. So cringey for my soul."
Im a fans of taylor but its still disrespectful to wards Celine Dion
— nm_lissa (@NmLissa) February 6, 2024
Another agreed: "During the chaos,Taylor should have taken a pause to acknowledge her award presenter, no matter who it was. But it was Celine Dion! 😭Despite battling a severe neurological disorder, she made the effort to show up; that's much harder than it looks. The respect was not there."
Must be the heat of the moment but damn that’s sad knowing that Celine is came up while battling her neurological disease.
— OnlyGoodGames™ (@OGG1993) February 5, 2024
Meanwhile, others defended Swift, saying that she was caught in the moment so her reaction was understandable.
Get over yourselves. She was shocked, her reaction was normal
— Ross (@rosirisuribe) February 5, 2024
But another argued: "For people who defend her, she didn't even look at Celine when she grabbed that award. Anyone who did this was being disrespectful, not just Taylor."
Im a fans of taylor but its still disrespectful to wards Celine Dion
— nm_lissa (@NmLissa) February 6, 2024
How you accept and give an award, the gold standard: https://t.co/KTQFQepKbO
— a nap plz (@808nobody) February 5, 2024
However, Swift was later photographed hugging Dion backstage and the photo has now become viral amid accusations she snubbed her.
She didn’t ignore her. They are chilling pic.twitter.com/mOFpBLkObH
— 733 (@seven3three) February 5, 2024
Likewise, an unnamed insider claimed that Dion has brushed off the alleged snub from Swift, telling Page Six: "I don't think Céline cared and they talked backstage afterwards. But Céline was just gracious and happy to be there."
The source added: "Of course, the right thing would have been for Taylor to acknowledge her, like Adele did years ago. When Dion presented Adele the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2017, the two warmly embraced and Adele made an 'I'm not worthy' hand motion to Dion."
Backstage, Dion was seen getting all the well-wishes from other artists and celebrities, including from Oprah Winfrey and singer Victoria Monét. She reportedly also sang with Stevie Wonder. The source said Dion was there at the 2024 Grammys because she "wanted to show everyone that she's doing alright" despite her condition. As for Swift, she has yet to publicly comment on the accusations she snubbed Dion on stage.
