Awards show controversy after all-men nominated in gender-neutral category

Harry Styles and British band Wet Leg are leading the nominations for this year’s BRIT Awardsscoring four nods each.

The former One Direction star is up for Album of the Year for Harry’s HouseSong of the Year for As It WasArtist of the Year and Best Pop/R&B Act at the UK’s answer to the ARIA Awards.

However, one of Styles’ nominations has caused controversy after only men were nominated in the gender-neutral Artist of the Year category.

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Styles was nominated Thursday alongside George Ezra, Stormzy, Fred again.. and Central Cee, which sparked backlash online after gender-neutral categories were first introduced for last year’s awards show.

Sam Smithwho is currently Down Under in Australia, will go up against Styles in two of the same categories – with the singer scoring nominations for Best Pop/R&B Act and Song of the Year alongside Kim Petras for the hit Unholy.

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Meanwhile, Wet Leg are also nominated for Album of the Year for their chart-topping self-titled debut, and also received nods for Group of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Alternative Rock Act.

K-pop girl group Blackpink and Eurovision singer Sam Ryder both scored debut nominations, as did Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow and British grime and hip hop artist Kojey Radical.

Disney claimed a rare nomination in the International Song of the Year category for the earworm We Don’t Talk About Brunoby the cast of the film Charm.

Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Lizzo join the Disney cast in the International Song of the Year category, and the trio are are also up for the International Artist of the Year gong, against fellow nominees Burna Boy and Kendrick Lamar.

This year’s Brits Awards will take place for the first time on a Saturday, taking over London’s O2 arena on February 11.

FULL LIST OF BRIT AWARDS 2023 NOMINEES:

Album of the Year

• The 1975 – Being Funny In A Foreign Language
• Fred Again – Actual Life 3 (Jan 1 – September 9 2022)
• Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• Stormzy – This Is What I Mean
• Wet Leg – Wet Leg

Artist of the Year

• Central Cee
• Fred Again
• George Ezra
• Harry Styles
• Stormzy

Best group

• The 1975
• Arctic Monkeys
• Bad Boy Chiller Crew
• Nova Twins
• Wet Leg

Song of the Year

• Aitch and Ashanti – Baby
• Cat Burns – Go
• Dave – Starlight
• Ed Sheeran and Elton John – Merry Christmas
• Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal – B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)
• George Ezra – Green Green Grass
• Harry Styles – As It Was
• Lewis Capaldi – Forget Me
• LF System – Afraid to Feel
• Sam Smith & Kim Petras – Unholy

Best international artist

• Beyoncé
• Burna Boy
• Kendrick Lamar
• Lizzo
• Taylor Swift

Best international group

• Blackpink
• Drake & 21 Savage
• First Aid Kit
• DC fountains
• Gabriel

International song of the Year

• Beyoncé – Break My Soul
• David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – I’m Good (Blue)
• Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran – Peru
• chaste charm – We Don’t Talk About Bruno
• Gayle – ABCDEFU
• Jack Harlow – First Class
• Lizzo – About Damn Time
• Lost Frequencies & Calum Scott – Where Are You Now?
• OneRepublic – I Ain’t Worried
• Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero

Best new artist

• Kojey Radical
• Rina Sawayama
• Sam Ryder
• Mimi Webb
• Wet Leg

Rising Star

• Flo – winners
• Cat Burns
• Nia Archives

Best alternative / rock

• The 1975
• Arctic Monkeys
• Nova Twins
• Tom Grennan
• Wet Leg

Best dance

• Becky Hill
• Bonobo
• Calvin Harris
• Eliza Rose
• Fred Again

Best hip-hop / rap / grime

• Aitch
• Central Cee
• Dave
• Loyle Carner
• Stormzy

Pop / R&B

• Cat Burns
• Charli XCX
• Dua Lipa
• Harry Styles
• Sam Smith