Grammys boss Ken Ehrlich has wished Ariana Grande well, after the singer accused him of lying about the reasons she's not performing at the upcoming awards.
Ehrlich, the executive producer of the awards ceremony, told U.S. TV show Extra he's not holding a grudge against Ariana after their war of words.
"We had hoped she would be with us," he said. "We were in conversations and discussions for a while, we just never quite met, you know, in the same place. We will celebrate her nominations. We obviously wish her well, and we look forward to the day again when she’s part of the show.”
Meanwhile, Neil Portnow, President of the Recording Academy, added he would "certainly" be leaving the door open if Ariana changed her mind and wanted to perform at Sunday's (10Feb19) ceremony.
"We love Ariana, she’s a great artist. She’s been on our show, she’s been in our mix, and she’s got some great nominations this year," he said. "Being a live show that doesn’t get closed until we have the downbeat of the dress rehearsal on Sunday, I can’t tell you that I know for sure how this all turns out.”
Ariana had taken to Twitter on Thursday after taking issue with Ehrlich's remarks that she felt it was "too late to pull something together" when he told her she couldn't perform her hit single 7 Rings on his show.
"I've kept my mouth shut but now you’re lying about me," she wrote. "I can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. It was when my creativity & self-expression was stifled by you that I decided not to attend. I hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more.
"I offered 3 different songs. it’s about collaboration. it’s about feeling supported. it’s about art and honesty. not politics. not doing favors or playing games. it’s just a game y’all... and i’m sorry but that’s not what music is to me."
