The president of the Grammys told women to 'step up' after men swept the award show — and people are furious

• The Grammy Awards have come under fire for awarding mostly men during the live show Sunday night.
• Alessia Cara was the only woman to win one of the main awards.
• The Recording Academy president is also being criticized for saying women need to "step up" in the industry. 
• The show featured strong performances from a variety of nominated women. 

The best in music were honored during the 2018 Grammy Awards Sunday night, but it was largely a male-dominated show when it came to the winners.

Singer Alessia Cara was the only woman to win a top award during the live show when she won for best new artist. The only other woman to stand on stage for an award was Rihanna when she joined Kendrick Lamar to accept the Grammy for best rap/sung performance for their collaboration on "Loyalty." 

Variety asked Recording Academy president Neil Portnow about the discrepancy. His comments placed some of the blame on women as he said they needed to "step up" in order to establish their place in the music industry. 

"It has to begin with … women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level," he said. "[They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome."

Fans were quick to jump on Portnow's comments.

Portnow added that as a male, he doesn't know the female experience and encouraged the music industry to open more doors for women. 

"I don't have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it's upon us — us as an industry — to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists," he said.

The live show itself was full of incredible performances from women, including Lady Gaga, SZA, and Pink. Kesha was joined onstage by Cyndi Lauper, Bebe Rexa, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, and Andra Day for a stirring rendition of "Praying."

Janelle Monae introduced the performance with a rousing speech about equality. 

"Tonight I am proud to stand in solidarity as just not an artist but a young woman with my fellow sisters who make up the music industry: artists, writers, assistants, publicists, CEOs, producers, engineers, and women from all sectors of the business," she said.

She advocated for the Time's Up movement and spoke about its importance in every industry. 

She concluded: "Women and men as a united music industry committed to creating safe work environments, equal pay, and access for all women. And as artists so often do, our next performer embodies the great tradition of delivering important social messages. This fearless two time Grammy nominee inspires so many of us, including myself when she spoke her truth on her album 'Rainbow,' which is nominated for best pop vocal album tonight."

But despite the encouraging messages and support for Time's Up shown through white roses, fans were angered to see Ed Sheeran claim the Grammy for best pop solo performance as the only male nominated in the category. He was up against Kesha for "Praying," as well as Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, and Pink.

Additionally, Lorde was the only woman nominated for album of the year and didn't perform at the awards show. According to a report from Variety, it was because she was the only nominee not to be asked to perform solo. Bruno Mars ended up sweeping the main awards of the night.

The Recording Academy didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment. 

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