Doja Cat pulls out of 2022 BRIT Awards performance due to COVID
She was set to perform alongside Sam Fender, Holly Humberstone and more at next week's ceremony
Doja Cat has announced that she will no longer be performing at next week’s BRIT Awards in London due to COVID cases in her crew.
The singer was set to perform alongside an all-star list of names including Dave, Little Simz, Liam Gallagher, Ed Sheeran, Holly Humberstone and most recent addition Sam Fender at the ceremony at The O2 on February 8.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Doja Cat, who is nominated for International Artist and International Song Of The Year at the awards, said: “Unfortunately, due to cases of COVID within my crew, I will no longer be performing at the Brits.
“My team and I have been in rehearsals for weeks and despite taking the utmost caution, numerous members of my crew (both on and off stage) have tested positive for COVID.”
She added: “It’s simply not safe for us to continue to rehearse together and put each other in harm’s way. I can’t wait to perform for my UK fans as soon as I can. Take care of yourselves.”
This year’s ceremony is hosted for the first time by Mo Gilligan, with Clara Amfo and Maya Jama on presenting duties.
There are other changes this year. Firstly, the ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ categories have been removed and replaced instead with ‘Artist of the Year’ and ‘International Artist of the Year’ in a move designed to be as inclusive as possible so artists are celebrated for their work first and foremost.
Secondly, there are four new genre awards: Alternative/Rock Act; Hip-hop/Grime/Rap Act; Dance Act, and Pop/R’n’B Act.
The ceremony will also celebrate Producers of the Year and Songwriter of the year, honorary awards decided upon by the BRITs committee. The rest of the awards are decided on by a Voting Academy of approximately 1,200 music industry experts across media, artists, labels, publishers, promoters, retailers and more
The BRIT Awards 2022 will air on ITV on February 8. Non-UK viewers can stream the ceremony via The BRITs’ official YouTube channel. Audience tickets are now on sale to the public via the AXS website here.