Alanis Morissette comments on “anti-woman sentiment” at Rock Hall 2022
In a new statement, Alanis Morissette has revealed why she pulled out of her scheduled performance during this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The Canadian singer-songwriter was set to appear onstage during the ceremony, which took place at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday night. It was initially planned that she would perform a duet of Carly Simon‘s ‘You’re So Vain’ with Olivia Rodrigo in honour of Simon’s induction. Sadly, due to a family tragedy, Simon couldn’t attend the ceremony; in Morrissette’s absence, Rodrigo performed the song solo.
Allegedly, Morrissette had attended rehearsals on Friday and was listed on the in-house schedule for the Saturday night event. Her sudden absence came with little protest from the crowd because an exact lineup for the evening was never made public.
Yesterday, the singer posted to her Instagram Stories to respond to “misinformed rumblings” and explain why she had decided against the performance. She began by clarifying that it was nothing to do with Simon, Rodrigo, or any other nominees or inductees in attendance.
“I have spent decades in an industry that is rife with an overarching anti-woman sentiment and have tolerated a lot of condescension and disrespectfulness, reduction, dismissiveness, contract-breaching, unsupportiveness, exploitation and psychological violence (and more) throughout my career,” she wrote.
“I tolerated it because nothing would stop me from connecting with those whom I cared about and resonated with,” she continued. “I live to serve and connect with people, and so over the years, I sucked it up on more occasions than I can count in order to do so. It’s hard not to be affected in any industry around the world, but Hollywood has been notorious for its disrespect of the feminine in all of us.”
While not explicitly outlining the sexism she allegedly experienced while working on the production, Morissette said that she is “at a point in my life where there is no need for me to spend time in an environment that reduces women.”
She concluded: “I have had countless incredible experiences with production teams with all genders throughout my life. So many, and so fun. There is nothing better than a team of diverse people coming together with one mission. I’ll continue to show up in those environments with bells on.”
Simon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2022 over the weekend, alongside Eminem, Parton, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, Judas Priest, Benatar and others. Sadly, Simon was unable to attend because both of her sisters have recently died from cancer one day apart from each other.
In a statement read by Sara Bareilles on the evening, Simon said she was “humbled, shocked, proud, overachieved and underqualified and singularly grateful” to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Watch the official Rock Hall 2022 influences and legacy video for Carly Simon below.
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