What The Hell Happened: Doja Cat and SZA Win A Grammy, Hilarity Ensues

Heading into the night, the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance was already primed to make waves. Traditionally presented during the pre-show, the honor took center stage in Las Vegas as it was awarded during the telecast by none other than pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne.

Nominated alongside BTS, Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, and Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco, Doja Cat and SZA ended the night in victory. When Lavigne crowned the duo’s “Kiss Me More” the night’s winner, the camera panned to a hobbling SZA, who was on crutches after having broken her ankle falling out of bed the night before. Her face expressed an understandable combination of delight — this was her first Grammy Award win after an astounding 14 nominations across her career — and dismay with collaborator Doja Cat nowhere to be found.

As Lady Gaga helped carry SZA’s train to the stage, she took the microphone to playfully chastise Doja Cat when she appeared out of nowhere moments later to accept her award (“Bro, you went to the bathroom for five minutes, are you serious?”), followed by Doja Cat declaring she had “never taken such a fast piss in [her] whole life.”

In a quick tone change, Doja Cat delivered an extremely emotional acceptance speech. Tears forming in her eyes, she acknowledged the immensity of winning her first Grammy Award while claiming her more candid reaction to be out of character, as she much prefers to “downplay a lot of shit.”

These emotional remarks feel all the more noteworthy given her competitors, specifically BTS, who now have the distinction of losing this category two years in a row — their only nominations. The producers’ decision to move the award’s presentation to the main telecast could have in part been motivated by a desire to have the South Korean septet’s first Grammy win be televised, a moment that would have been rewatched and studied by the tens of millions of enthusiastic fans who have been hoping for a sign of acceptance for K-pop as a legitimate component of the American musical landscape.

Although BTS fans were certainly disappointed, Doja Cat and SZA proved themselves more than worthy of the accolade with their flirtatious and well-crafted track. They proved that they can certainly serve up both a viral and heartfelt moment by doing little more than being themselves.

Doja Cat went into the award show tied with Justin Bieber and H.E.R. for the second-most nominations with eight. Her Grammy nods encompassed rap, pop, and the general field, but she finished with a single trophy.

No one ever claimed that the Recording Academy or the Grammys were perfect, but what this chaotic masterpiece of an award presentation makes clear is that more room could certainly be devoted to honoring critically-acclaimed artists like Doja Cat and SZA — because if nothing else, it’s entertaining.