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SZA<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s manager is speaking out after she was snubbed in the Artist of the Year category at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards<\/strong><\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n The category this year included Beyonc\u00e9<\/strong><\/a>, Shakira<\/strong><\/a>, Nicki Minaj<\/strong><\/a>, Karol G<\/strong><\/a>, Doja Cat<\/strong><\/a>, and Taylor Swift<\/strong><\/a>, who ultimately took the victory. SZA<\/strong>\u2018s absence was surprising, given the incredible success of her album, SOS<\/em>.<\/p>\n During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/em>, her manager, Terrence \u201cPunch\u201d Henderson<\/strong>, opened up about the disappointing situation. <\/p>\n Keep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cObviously, she had one of the best years, if not the best year, of any artist at this point,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t see why she wouldn\u2019t be nominated for artist of the year. It just really didn\u2019t make any sense to me. It\u2019s disrespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n Punch <\/strong>revealed that he reached out to MTV about the cateogry while on a call about a potential SZA <\/strong>performance at the awards show, but \u201cthey couldn\u2019t give a clear answer as to why she wasn\u2019t [nominated]. It was just, \u2018Well, she\u2019s nominated for all these other [awards].\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n SZA<\/strong>\u2018s manager continued, \u201cAnd they ended up saying, \u2018OK, well we could do another call\u2019 because there were people on [the call] about logistics for the show who didn\u2019t have anything to do with [the nominations]. When we tried to set up the second call, they didn\u2019t want to discuss artist of the year, which to me was really a slap in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n SOS <\/em>notably made history as the longest-leading No. 1 of the 21st century so far on Billboard\u2019s R&B\/Hip-Hop albums chart, and it\u2019s gone triple-platinum. Her hit single, \u201cKill Bill,\u201d went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t she be nominated for artist of the year?\u201d Punch <\/strong>questioned. \u201cEven with the other artists that were nominated for artist of the year, some of them were even off-cycle. They didn\u2019t have an album out. I mean, no disrespect to them or anybody else; everybody\u2019s great and all of that, but still, you can\u2019t discredit what SOS <\/em>has done and is currently doing.\u201d<\/p>\n SZA <\/strong>did not perform at or attend the award show this year.<\/p>\n Her manager emphasized that she is \u201ca very sweet person and she\u2019s not for all of the nonsense and the politics and the back and forth and all of that. So, our feelings might be a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut ultimately,\u201d he said, \u201cI felt it was disrespectful and I was very stern on that and influencing that. If there\u2019s any issues or backlash and all of that, I\u2019m taking all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n SZA <\/strong>has a brand new song with Drake <\/strong><\/a>called \u201cSlime You Out.\u201d Check it out!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n