The Brit Awards have been met with a backlash after failing to recognise a single woman in the Best British Artist category.
On Thursday afternoon, the nominees for the upcoming Brits – the second since organisers merged the Best British Male and Best British Female awards into a single Best British Artist prize – were announced.
However, music fans were quick to voice their disappointment when it emerged that no female musicians were in the running for the Best British Artist prize.
Instead, Central Cee, Fred Again.., George Ezra, Harry Styles and Stormzy are all in the running for the award, which was won by Adele last year, in its inaugural year.
The nominees for BRITs 2023 Artist of the Year in partnership with @YouTube Shorts are:
— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) January 12, 2023
Central Cee@fredagainagain1@george_ezra@Harry_Styles
Stormzy
Watch The #BRITs 2023 on Saturday 11 Feb on @ITV and @ITVXpic.twitter.com/rl88jTkUVG
Music fans have been speaking out on Twitter since the nominees were announced, with many highlighting the female artists who could have been honoured instead of the all-male shortlist…
The fact that there isn’t a SINGLE female in this category when there have been PLENTY of amazing female artists releasing music the last year is shocking! Where are @charli_xcx, @florencemachine, @rinasawayama, @0800shygirl, @raye etc? https://t.co/PxiI3q2e9m
— Jory (@jory_dw) January 12, 2023
bree runway.. rina sawayama.. shygirl.. FLO?!?? imma need y’all to be a little more serious cause wtf https://t.co/wd8ft8UrzT
— ❖ (@sosoIogy) January 12, 2023
where is florence?? or even a single woman for that matter https://t.co/qNLkgJQpRw
— Jak (@todd_jak) January 12, 2023
all men. https://t.co/Y3Gi0ZGqdhpic.twitter.com/CkA0wYzrLc
— gabii the dreadfully loathsome (@gabiiadrna) January 12, 2023
loving the female representation here !!!
— shar (@homesickrem) January 12, 2023
Women exist
— Steve (@Nintendoubt815) January 12, 2023
where are the female artists….
— eden (@maygrants) January 12, 2023
NOT ONE FEMALE ARTIST BEING NOMINATED FOR ARTIST OF THE YEAR???? wtf is the brits anymore x https://t.co/JKmEsAAezh
— kaitlin???????? (@worklikemae) January 12, 2023
5 men, never would expect anything else from the brits.
— ًdillon ???? BRODY DAY (@chersweetener) January 12, 2023
https://t.co/2LLMYN7joFpic.twitter.com/mePqjmijsx
— Sam P (@samjoshphillips) January 12, 2023
where are the women??? https://t.co/x1JQCxi6F1
— jess (@xjesstaylorx) January 12, 2023
women famously do not do music https://t.co/ccKDMwxq9n
— Ben Smoke (@bencsmoke) January 12, 2023
Not a single woman in sight https://t.co/z304gW1AAKpic.twitter.com/HcqkrW51Bw
— Scott (@scottjmcg) January 12, 2023
And not a single female artist… https://t.co/ScZTiQb9UD
— allan ???? (@ayoprayer) January 12, 2023
No women up for Artist of the Year at the #BRITs is…a choice
— Alex (@AMG_Review) January 12, 2023
BRITs ditch the gender categories (fine) and then nominate only men for Artist of the Year.
— Ryan (@ryan_simmonds) January 12, 2023
Might be sensible to expand the category to 8 nominations if the idea was more diversity and not less. https://t.co/ADjf6cBQdZ
Where r female artists
— sofy VAI VER O LOUIS (@faithintv) January 12, 2023
Nice to see all the female representation here… ???? https://t.co/0E9myu5XmG
— Michael (he/they) ????????️???? (@MichaelM238) January 12, 2023
HuffPost UK has contacted the Brit Awards for comment.
Meanwhile the award’s international counterpart has recognised Beyoncé, Lizzo and Taylor Swift alongside Burna Boy and Kendrick Lamar.
As It Was singer Harry Styles and indie two-piece Wet Leg are this year’s top-nominated musicians, each receiving four nods including the coveted Album Of The Year prize.
Chart-topping rapper Stormzy, dance producer Fred Again.. and rock groups The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys are each on three. Singer-songwriter Cat Burns has also received two more nominations, in addition to being shortlisted for the Rising Star title.
This year’s Brit Awards will air live on ITV from London’s O2 Arena on Saturday 11 February.
Mo Gilligan will once again be on presenting duties, with the first two performers revealed as Wet Leg and Sam Smith, the latter of whom will perform their recent number one Unholy with fellow singer Kim Petras.
