The Recoding Academy unveiled its Grammy Award nominations yesterday (Nov. 24) and one apparent absence on the list was The Weeknd. As reported by REVOLT, the Toronto-born star — and his fans — reacted to the snub on Twitter.

“The Grammys remain corrupt,” The Weeknd tweeted. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”

Now, it seems the After Hours artist has gotten a bit of the explanation that he asked for. Variety spoke with the Grammys Interim President and CEO Harvey Mason, Jr., and while he has no power over the Academy’s nominations, he did shed some light on the overall selection process.

“The process is there so we can continue to monitor excellence,” Mason told the outlet. “I was in the ‘core room’ this year [which decides the main categories] and I observed, and the people in it are music professionals at the top of their craft in songwriting and producing — and there are a lot of artists.”

“And they were critically listening to every song that came across their desks, or virtual desks… It’s a long, arduous process and people take pride in it,” he added.

Overall, though, Mason argued that The Weeknd’s lack of recognition was not a mistake on the nomination committee’s part.

“I don’t think [The Weeknd’s omission calls the nominations] process into question, honestly,” he said. “… The people in that room care; there are no agendas in there, there’s no, ‘Let’s snub this person’ or that person. It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence.’”

However, a source close to the situation told Variety that The Weeknd’s snub may have had something to do with his upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance, which will occur a week after the Grammys. According to the source, the Grammys and the singer’s team were at odds over him playing both the awards ceremony and the halftime show. The negotiations, however, are now moot, since The Weeknd did not receive any nominations.

Several other snubbed acts, like Teyana Taylor, also lashed out at the Recording Academy online; while others, such as Freddie Gibbs, celebrated making the cut.