Grammys Producer Talks Cher's Viral Mess-Up, Confirms She Was 'Briefed'

The producer of the Grammys telecast is responding to Cher‘s viral mess-up while presenting the Record of the Year award.

The 79-year-old legend was a surprise presenter at the 2026 Grammy Awards on Sunday (February 1) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

When Cher walked out on stage, host Trevor Noah presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. After saying a few words, she began to walk off stage without presenting the award she was there to hand out.

Executive producer Ben Winston told Rolling Stone that he spoke into Trevor‘s earpiece to make him handle the situation.

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Ben told Trevor, “You’ve just gotta get up and bring her back.”

After opening the envelope to reveal the Record of the Year winner, Cher announced the winner was Luther Vandross, despite the singer passing away in 2005.

The award actually went to the song “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

“I  promise you, we had briefed her, and I promise you, what she had to do was in the prompter,” Ben said. “If I could go back in time, I’d want that to happen again. She’s happy with it. She had a great time. You want a bit of anarchy.”

SZA has shared her honest reaction to the moment.