Tell Us When The Music Industry Royally Failed Female Celebrities

The Grammys banned Janet Jackson from singing at the awards following her 2004 Super Bowl performance, and that is ridiculous.

2021 certainly had its ups and downs, but in my opinion, it was a very significant year in the entertainment world. I say this because at the beginning of 2021, an important conversation around the mistreatment of famous women in the media started (a dialogue that was long overdue).

HBO Max

When the New York Times Presents documentary series released an episode about Britney Spears in February, it sparked an important dialogue about the media's effect on a famous woman's personal and professional life.

ABC / Hulu / FX

You can watch The New York Times Presents episode "Framing Britney Spears" on Hulu.

The dialogue continued throughout the year as more stories were revealed and documentaries were released. They showcased not only the media's cruel mistreatment of female celebrities, but how fans and the entertainment industry played a major role as well.

Jhammon67 @Jhammon67

*Yoko Ono quietly does a crossword puzzle quietly next to John* "SHE'S DOING IT, LOOK, SHE'S BREAKING UP THE BEATLES"

05:52 AM - 27 Nov 2021

Twitter: @Jhammon67

This made me want to ask you, dear reader: When did the music industry fail famous women?

Just so we're clear, we're talking about the music industry — not the media.

Maybe you thought it was absolutely ridiculous that TLC had won two Grammys in 1996, were the biggest-selling female group by that point (10 million albums sold worldwide), but were actually bankrupt and barely received money for their pioneering efforts in music.

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In 1996, the LA Times reported: "The trio has received less than 1% of the estimated $175 million in revenues that the group's music has generated around the world. Analysts say that's about 40 times less than the profit that has been divided among the management, production, and record companies that represent TLC."

Or maybe it makes you really angry to know that legendary singer Darlene Love sang lead vocals on some of the biggest hits of the '60s, like "He's a Rebel" and "He's Sure the Boy I Love," but producer Phil Spector never put her name on the records. Instead, he put the name of a girl group, the Crystals, on Love's songs, and she didn't receive any royalties for her chart-topping work.

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

You can learn more about Spector's toxicity and mistreatment toward Love in the 2013 documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, which is currently streaming on HBO Max.

Or perhaps you thought it was UNBELIEVABLE that the Grammys banned Janet Jackson from singing at the awards in 2004, and that MTV blacklisted her singles and music videos because of her Super Bowl XXXVIII performance with Justin Timberlake.

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Timberlake, on the other hand, faced zero consequences.

Tell us which famous woman in music you think deserves an apology from the music industry (and why you believe so) in the comments below.

NBC / 20th Century Fox / Harry Langdon / Jack Mitchell / Getty Images

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has four major categories that someone can be inducted into: performers, musical excellence, early influences, and the Ahmet Ertegun award (an award for non-performing music pioneers in the industry). A musician is eligible to be inducted as a performer 25 years after their first solo album was released.

Dolly Parton has been eligible since 1992, Diana Ross has been eligible since 1995, and Carly Simon has been eligible since 1996. These three musical legends still haven't been inducted.

Some submissions will be featured in a BuzzFeed Community post.