Kerser has called out ARIA for a shot in its 2023 Awards broadcast that “[made] out” that he was in attendance “when I wouldn’t be seen anywhere near there”.
Shortly after the conclusion of the awards show Wednesday night (November 15), Kerser shared a video on Instagram that appeared to show the ARIA Awards broadcast labelling a shot of Kahukx, who was wearing a balaclava, with his name, when Kerser was actually not at Sydney Hordern’s Pavilion for the awards ceremony.
The shot was of the nominees for Best Hip Hop/Rap Release reacting to the winner’s reveal. Kerser was nominated for his tenth and final studio album ‘A Gift & A Kers’, which debuted at Number One on the ARIA Albums Chart upon its release in June, while Kahukx was nominated for ‘Nothing To Something’.
In the caption of his post, Kerser said that he had made his stance on the ARIA Awards clear years ago: “I said in 2017 I would never attend an event run by the same industry figures who tried blockin me my whole career”.
He added: “mannnnn, they just put on air another artist at a table with a mask on with ‘kerser’ under it acting like im there , and clapping along ! wtfff”
In a statement emailed to NME, ARIA said: “A production issue in last night’s live broadcast unfortunately caused two cameras to be on one nominated artist, Kahuxx, during the presentation of Best Hip Hop / Rap Release. It was never ARIA’s intent to infer that Kerser was in attendance at last night’s Awards. We absolutely respect his position to not attend the Awards and apologise for an error that would imply otherwise.”
Genesis Owusu ultimately won the Best Hip Hop/Rap Release category for his album ‘Struggler’, and gave a shoutout to Kerser in his acceptance speech: “Shout out Kerser, we’ve never met but I appreciate everything you’ve done for Australian hip-hop.” In his post, Kerser thanked Owusu and said his win was “well deserved”.
Kerser also left a comment on a post on the official ARIA Instagram account to congratulate Owusu on his win for Album of the Year, calling on fans not to “take it out on him, aim it at the ARIAs” – adding his voice to a comments section filled with fans voicing their support of Kerser.
Ahead of today’s ARIA Awards, Kerser had made clear to his followers that he would not be present, writing in an Instagram story “don’t watch the ARIAs expecting Kers to be there… I can’t stand fake love.”
Kerser claimed that “the industry hate[s]” him and that “the pressure from my fan base and me topping every chart with my latest album made them nominate me”. ‘A Gift & A Kers’ is Kerser’s first album to top the ARIA Albums Chart, and his eighth album to reach the top ten.
In other ARIA Awards news, Genesis Owusu called for a ceasefire in Gaza during his acceptance speech for the Album Of The Year. “Atrocious things [are] happening in the world right now that I think as a community we should be putting our minds, hearts and bodies behind to stop it at any junction we can,” he said. “And that being said, ceasefire now, ceasefire now, ceasefire now, free Palestine.”
Owusu won a total of three trophies at the 2023 ARIA Awards: Album Of The Year, Best Hip Hop/Rap Release and Best Independent Release. Other notable winners were Troye Sivan, Kylie Minogue and G Flip – find the full list of 2023 ARIA Awards winners here.