Mel B hits out at Tom Meighan being eligible for 2024 BRIT Awards
Mel B has hit out at former Kasabian member Tom Meighan being included on the voting kind for judges for the 2024 BRIT Awards, regardless of him being convicted of home assault.
The Spice Women singer voiced her disappointment in a press release to The Independent – saying that she feels let down by the choice to have a singer convicted of abuse being made eligible to win a BRIT Award.
It comes after Meighan was among the many acts included on the voting kind for judges for the 2024 version.
Meighan parted methods with the Leicester group in July 2020, shortly earlier than being charged with assaulting his accomplice Vikki Ager – who he married the next yr. He was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work.
The BRIT buzz comes following the discharge of his solo album, ‘The Reckoning’, and he’s eligible for Album of the 12 months, British Rock/Various Act, and Artist of the 12 months at subsequent yr’s ceremony.
“I’m deeply dissatisfied that an organisation so extremely revered inside the music trade ought to make a alternative like this,” Mel B advised the outlet.
“You must assume what sort of message are you sending out to individuals when crimes of violence in opposition to ladies could be dedicated after which that individual could possibly be rewarded as a part of a massively excessive profile awards occasion. It’s stunning to me.”
Mel B’s feedback in opposition to Meighan come following years of labor campaigning in opposition to home violence. She has additionally voiced her personal experiences of alleged abuse up to now – sharing claims of home violence throughout her marriage to Stephen Belafonte in her memoir Brutally Trustworthy. Belafonte has repeatedly denied the claims in opposition to him, and the 2 reached a non-public settlement in 2017.
“I’m not solely a Patron of Women’s Aid however I’ve simply accomplished three new chapters of my e-book, Brutally Trustworthy, which charts my journey by abuse and the six years it has taken me to cope with the trauma of that abuse,” she added. “I’m nonetheless coping with that trauma and I do know I’m not alone.”
The feedback additionally coincide with the information that rapper Slowthai – who’s at the moment going through two fees of rape – is eligible to win Album of the 12 months, Artist of the 12 months, and Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act on the BRITS 2024 together with his newest LP ‘UGLY’.
Over the summer time, the artist – whose actual title is Tyron Frampton – appeared in court docket following the costs, and denied all allegations made in opposition to him. He’s accused of raping a girl twice in September 2021 and is due in court docket subsequent yr.
“The BRIT Awards condemns any type of sexual violence or harassment,” a spokesperson for the awards advised The Unbiased in response to Mel B’s feedback.
“We additionally consider within the rule of legislation and due course of. Artists develop into eligible based mostly on their musical impression within the earlier 12 months,” it continued. “Members of the 1,200 sturdy BRITs Voting Academy (drawn from throughout the music trade and media) are then invited to make knowledgeable selections to create the shortlist of nominees, and the eventual class winners. The Voting Academy is reviewed yearly, as are the eligibility guidelines.”
Based on the outlet, the BRIT Awards voting guidelines state that the organisation “strongly helps the precept of creative freedom of expression”, nonetheless “reserves the best […] to deem ineligible any artist(s) or recorded music product(s) which it considers both could breach the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and/or that will convey the BRIT Awards into disrepute”.
A spokesperson from Girls’s Support disagreed with the stance, nonetheless, and advised The Unbiased that the inclusion of these accused of abuse “sends a message to these residing with the trauma of experiencing these crimes that they don’t seem to be taken significantly by society, notably the music trade.”
Following the conviction of home abuse in opposition to his now-wife, Vikki Ager, Meighan went on to open up about his psychological well being, expertise in rehab and “consequence tradition”.
“I did one thing I’ll by no means forgive myself for: I bodily assaulted my now spouse Vikki in [a] row fuelled by alcohol. It was completely unacceptable,” he wrote, claiming the assault came about after he “hit all-time low”. “In actual fact, it makes me really feel sick each time I give it some thought.”
Talking with Cornwall Live again in 2020, Ager additionally shared a response, saying: “He apologises each day. He actually does. Lots of people have arguments and ours acquired taken to an excessive stage. I gave pretty much as good as I acquired. We have been each preventing. We have been actually drunk and I don’t usually drink. It was extra of a squabble, it wasn’t home violence.
“Psychological well being performed a large half in it, and a scarcity of help for psychological well being. Tom isn’t that individual and I don’t assume Tom was himself for a very long time. He’s not a violent individual. He’d by no means completed something like that earlier than.”
Since parting methods with Kasabian, Meighan has been releasing music and touring as a solo artist. Most not too long ago, he was booked as help for Noel Gallagher’s Excessive Flying Birds present in Birmingham final Friday (15 December).
For assist, help and recommendation concerning home abuse, go to Refuge here or name the freephone, 24-hour Nationwide Home Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.