Christina Grimmie fans are pretty steamed at the Teen Choice Awards.
Grimmie was the former contestant from “The Voice” who was shot and killed by an obsessed fan in June. The pop singer had a loyal fan base among teens, and on Sunday she won an award for Choice Web Star: Music.
But fans were angry that the producers did not include a shout-out or special tribute to Grimmie, even though one of the evening’s highlights was a special segment in which Jessica Alba hailed the teen victims of gun violence and introduced R&B singer Ne-Yo, who covered Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”
In fact, Grimmie and her win weren’t even mentioned during the telecast, which omitted some categories due to time constraints.
A Fox spokeswoman declined to comment.
But Grimmie’s fans had plenty to say on Twitter, accusing Fox of exploiting Grimmie’s death by touting her inclusion in the Choice Web Star category but then not even bothering to cite her in the telecast. One fan said the producers had “blatantly exploited” Grimmie.
A sampling of the outrage:
I mean like cmon. #TeenChoice. This talented girl deserves better. Stop using Christina grimmie for ratings. pic.twitter.com/JwiSLgwQJK
— osias sagapolu (@Osiaaas) August 1, 2016
1D didnt win anything but im more upset of the fact that Christina Grimmie wasnt even mentioned. NOT EVEN ONCE. #TeenChoice
— azalea (@rosedhes) August 1, 2016
#TeenChoice didn’t bother to give christina grimmie a tribute, but they were so quick to use her name for retweets, votes and promotion
— chey (@itsnotchey) August 1, 2016
Teen Choice blatantly exploited Christina Grimmie’s death to promote their show only to neglect her in their actual show. I’m so angry.
— Trang Dong (@typicallytrang) August 1, 2016