Cher Slammed After Grammys Chaos: Walks Off Mid-Speech and Names the Wrong Winner
Cher sent the Grammys into a chaotic finish after she walked offstage too early and then mistakenly announced the late Luther Vandross as the winner of an award that was actually meant for Kendrick Lamar.
She first came onstage to accept her own lifetime achievement award, then exited—only to be called back by host Trevor Noah because she was also scheduled to present record of the year to “Luther” by Lamar and SZA.
But when it came time to hand out the honor, Cher, 79, derailed the moment with a major blunder that had viewers howling.
She began, “And the Grammy goes to…,” then paused awkwardly, staring ahead before admitting, “Oh! They told me it was gonna be on the prompter.”
Realizing she actually needed to open the envelope in her hand, she did—then read the card and triumphantly announced: “Luther Gandross [sic]!”
Lamar, 38, laughed in disbelief at hearing Vandross—who died 20 years ago—named as the winner, but understood she meant his song and headed to the stage.
Cher soon caught herself and corrected the mistake, calling out, “Oh, no, Kendrick Lamar!” as she laughed along while Lamar and SZA’s walk-on music played.
Vandross served as inspiration for Lamar and SZA’s new song “Luther,” which samples vocals from the late singer, and Lamar made sure to acknowledge him during his acceptance speech.
Online reactions exploded, with fans joking: “Cher high as hell man,” “Luther Vandross got me hooting and hollering,” “Luther Vandross had me so weak. Cher had me lmfao,” and, “Lord Cher just found out Luther vandross passed away today lmaooo.”
Cher’s entire segment was messy from the start. She came out to present record of the year, only for Trevor Noah to stop the moment so he could present her lifetime achievement award first.
Cher then delivered a prepared message urging viewers not to give up on their dreams, but wrapped up by awkwardly saying, “Thank you. I guess I’m supposed to walk off now. All right.”
She walked off to thunderous applause—then immediately returned to the stage, leading straight into the Luther Vandross mix-up.
The show had no shortage of headline moments, beginning with Trevor Noah’s opening monologue, which sparked rumors of a feud with Justin Bieber.
Bieber went viral after appearing to force a tight smile when Noah tried to banter with him and his wife, Hailey, at their table—while also seeming to cringe at one of Noah’s jokes.
After congratulating Justin on his nominations and the birth of his now one-year-old son, Jack Blues, Noah continued his bit. Hailey laughed politely, but Justin didn’t appear to chuckle at all.