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Jermaine Dupri Quits Recording Academy Due To Janet Uproar

Producer upset his girlfriend won't be on Grammys as planned.

LOS ANGELES -- The controversy surrounding Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance has caused the singer's boyfriend to call it quits -- from the Recording Academy.

On Friday Jermaine Dupri held a press conference to announce he is resigning from his position as president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' Atlanta chapter.

The announcement came one day after it was announced that Jackson would not be attending this weekend's Grammy Awards ceremony, which is presented by the Recording Academy. She had been scheduled to present a special Grammy to Luther Vandross, who has been recuperating from a stroke for the past 10 months.

"I feel like I don't want to be a part of something that's not treating musical people in the right light," Dupri, standing onstage at the Avalon club, explained. "I feel what's going on with Janet is very unfair right now. I'm looked at as one of the youngest people that's on the floor [at NARAS]. When you're on the floor at NARAS, you make the decisions, basically. I feel that if I can't change this or make it go in the right way it should go, I shouldn't be a part of it."

Dupri, who said he would not be attending the Grammys, accused the organization of not supporting Jackson as strongly as it should have.

"I consider NARAS a community who protects each other and supports each other," Dupri said. "We have programs like MusiCares, [which] provides financial assistance for musicians who have fallen on hard times. But there appears to be a double standard. I cannot stand by and watch a fellow member of the music community be used as a scapegoat. It comes down to the issue of fairness. Despite it all, what is happening is not fair."

Jermaine didn't open up much about the halftime incident, but he did say he wasn't aware of Janet's last-minute change to her show and was just as surprised as the rest of the world at what happened (see [article id="1484801"]"Janet Jackson Issues Video Apology For Super Bowl Incident"[/article]). He also said that despite the uproar, his girlfriend is in good spirits.

"She's good," Dupri said. "Everybody else is making this bigger than what it is."

Despite his resignation and decision not to attend, J.D. said he'll still celebrate the Grammy Awards. He's hosting a star-studded gala on Sunday where the guest list includes members of his So So Def roster, Ludacris and Outkast.

A Recording Academy spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

For more Grammy news, check out the [article id="1469939"]MTV News Grammy Archive[/article].

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