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Celine Dion made a surprise appearance at the very end of Sunday night’s Grammys. She got a standing ovation from the audience as she stepped out to present Album of the Year. It all went sideways soon after, but not for Celine. Celine presented Taylor Swift with the AOTY Grammy and Taylor was too busy dragging Lana del Rey on stage and making faces at her producers to even notice Celine. Taylor snatched the Grammy from Celine’s hands without even acknowledging her. Backstage minutes later, Taylor made sure to pose for photos with Celine, and Taylor’s people put out stories about how there was no drama, etc. Meanwhile, an internet full of Celine-lovers lost their sh-t on Taylor for being so disrespectful to a queen. So what did Celine think of all of that?
Céline Dion made her sensational Grammys appearance to show that her illness is “not a death sentence” — and was unfazed by Taylor Swift’s alleged snub, sources told Page Six. The superstar, 55, has been battling Stiff-Person syndrome, a rare — and incurable — neurological disorder that makes walking difficult and has prevented her from singing the way she’s “used to.”
Dion was greeted with a standing ovation at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Sunday night as she stepped onstage to hand out the final award of the night, Album of the Year. And despite an alleged snub by the winner, Swift, one music insider said that Dion achieved what she wanted — to show everyone that she’s back.
Swift has been dragged online for not properly acknowledging Dion as she accepted the award, but an insider who knows the latter said Dion brushed it off.
“I don’t think Céline cared and they talked backstage afterwards. But Céline was just gracious and happy to be there,” the insider said. “Of course, the right thing would have been for Taylor to acknowledge her, like Adele did years ago.” When Dion presented Adele the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2017, the two warmly embraced and Adele made an “I’m not worthy” hand motion to Dion.
Backstage on Sunday, other luminaries paid respect to Dion and flocked to her dressing room. Page Six is told she sang with Steve Wonder — “they were just riffing,” said the insider — and caught up with Oprah Winfrey.
“She wanted to show everyone that she’s doing alright,” the insider said of Dion’s surprise appearance. “She has good days and bad days … it’s a painful disease, but it’s not a death sentence. She’s clearly capable of doing things and she wanted to show everyone that she’s back. She looked fantastic. The hope is that she will be able to perform.”
Dion was forced to cancel a world tour after she announced her illness last year, and has made rare public appearances since then. On Sunday night, she flew from her home in Las Vegas to Los Angeles — accompanied by a small entourage including her stylist Jay Roach — landing at 7 p.m. PST. She was escorted onstage by her son René-Charles Angélil, 23, presented the final award of the night to Swift and was on her way home by 9:30 p.m., we’re told.
“Of course, the right thing would have been for Taylor to acknowledge her, like Adele did years ago.” Sounds like Celine did notice that Taylor totally blanked her and it might have even bothered her. The thing is, Celine really is a lovely and gracious person (by all accounts) so I’m sure this story is more about Celine’s team being mad on her behalf and trying to refocus the story back on Celine.
Meanwhile, The Town podcast with Matthew Ringer had the inside story on what happened when Taylor and Celine left the Grammys stage, with Taylor’s team “scrambling” to fix Taylor’s mistake. Here’s the thing – if Taylor and her people had just come out and said “Taylor was caught up in the moment and she’s so sorry she didn’t acknowledge Celine properly, Taylor loves Celine and apologizes completely,” that would have been it, story over. But Taylor has an almost Trumpian attitude towards apologizing or acknowledging her mistakes.
not The Town casually confirming that "the Taylor camp knew immediately" her Celine snub was a "misstep" and that this photo was scrambled together as instant damage control https://t.co/OXb7OBhB9Z pic.twitter.com/2MvdY1XRhc
— Who? Weekly (@whoweekly) February 6, 2024
Photos courtesy of Getty.
