Alicia Keys takes no prisoners.
Honored at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon Friday for her work with Keep a Child Alive, a nonprofit organization supporting HIV/AIDS-afflicted communities, the Girl on Fire singer called out injustices against women and applauded those fighting for equality.
“Look at us! We’re more on fire than we’ve ever been,” Keys said to a packed ballroom at Cipriani Wall Street, before shifting her focus to the Grammy Awards. In January, the male-dominated awards show received backlash when Recording Academy president Neil Portnow suggested that if more women want to be nominated and perform on the telecast, they need to “step up.”
In response, Keys thanked “the women demanding an end to the disparity in the music industry, like equal representation on the Grammys stage. We were told we needed to step it up — well, you feel that step up now.”
She then took Netflix to task, after it was revealed last month that The Crown star Claire Foy was paid less than her co-star Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip opposite her Queen Elizabeth II for two seasons of the hit drama.
“(Let’s acknowledge) the women asking for the money we deserve; equal pay for equal work,” Keys said. “Like the actors on the show called The Crown: It’s called The Crown. It’s about the queen. Why is the prince getting more than the queen?” From now on, “the queens are gonna get their paper!”
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