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Christina Grimmie Fans Outraged After Slain Singer Is Omitted From Teen Choice Awards Despite Winning An Award

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 04:44 PST, Aug 1, 2016

Christina Grimmie fans are up in arms. The late pop singer, who was fatally shot while meeting with fans at an Orlando concert venue in June, posthumously won her first Teen Choice Award over the weekend, but her name was never mentioned during the Fox broadcast. Grimmie was also omitted during a segment on gun violence, despite the fact that the TCAs used her memory to promote the show.

According to KABC, Christina Grimmie beat out Boyce Avenue, Chloe X Halle, Cimorelli, Johnny Orlando, and MattyBRaps as the Choice Web Star for the music category on the annual awards show. But Christina’s long-awaited award was not even mentioned during the Fox TV special. While it wasn’t announced on air, Christina Grimmie’s win was confirmed via a press release that was published after the ceremony ended. Fox has not yet commented on or apologized for Christina’s omission from the show.

To make matters worse, Christina’s tragic death wasn’t mentioned at all during a segment of the award show dedicated to ending gun violence. Jessica Alba, Ne-Yo, and ten families of victims from the San Bernardino, Newton, and Orlando shootings took the stage to talk about gun violence and to promote the social media tag #StopTheViolence.

“Tonight, we stand together with these teens united in a call for peace in an end to this violence,” Alba said. The actress introduced Ne-Yo, who performed the Marvin Gaye song “What’s Going On.”

Critics of the show—and devoted Christina Grimmie fans—couldn’t believe that the slain star was omitted from the segment. While the Choice Web Star award was one of more than four dozen awards given, time didn’t allow for all of them to be shown on TV. But it seems producers should have made sure to fit Grimmie’s award into the broadcast, especially given the night’s anti-gun theme.

A source close to Christina Grimmie’s team told Billboard that they were disappointed that the Fox show “chose not to mention Christina’s name during the two-hour broadcast.”

“The fans have a right to be upset,” the Grimmie insider said.

And upset they were. Outraged Christina Grimmie fans slammed Fox and the Teen Choice Awards for overlooking the late singer after using her to plug the show by touting her inclusion in the Choice Web Star category on social media.

Indeed, in the weeks leading up to the Teen Choice Awards broadcast, a post on the official TCA Twitter page asked fans to retweet in honor of the late singer’s memory using the hashtag #ChoiceMusicWebStar.

After the TCA broadcast ended, YouTube star Shane Dawson went on a multi-tweet rant, slamming the “trash” awards show, while other Grimmie fans wrote that they only tuned in to see an award or tribute for Christina.

It was a sad aftermath to what could have been a well-deserved tribute to Grimmie. Christina Grimmie’s manager, Brian Teefey, had asked fans to vote for Grimmie, pointing out that this year was her third TCA nomination.

“Let’s please do all we can to ensure she takes home this win,” he wrote on Twitter last month.

Christina Grimmie made a name for herself on YouTube before she hit the big time a Selena Gomez’ opening act on two tours. Grimmie later competed on NBC’s The Voice. Christina Grimmie was 22-years-old when she was shot and killed by an obsessed fan just one day before the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

Take a look at the video below to see Christina Grimmie at the TCA in 2014.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]

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