Christina Grimmie fans slam 'shameful' Teen Choice Awards for failing to mention late singer

Fans of Christina Grimmie are upset that the late singer was not mentioned at the Teen Choice Awards 2016. Hosted at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Sunday (31 July), the awards ceremony included a special segment dedicated to ending gun violence. Although Grimmie was shot and killed just weeks ago, The Voice singer was completely omitted from the tribute.

Grimmie, 22, was shot and killed by Kevin James Loibl while hosting a meet-and-greet session with fans at a concert in Orlando, Florida on 10 June. During the Teen Choice Awards, Sin City actress Jessica Alba invited to the stage young victims of gun violence from Orlando, San Bernardino and Newtown.

The 35-year-old actress said: "These teens had the courage to come here and share their grief and take a stand. All of us and all of you watching need to do the same. Tonight we stand together with these teens, united in our call for peace and an end to this violence. Now, more than ever, we need to stop, feel and ask: 'What's Going On?'"

R'n'b singer Ne-Yo then performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's classic What's Going On? Before uniting with Alba to promote the social media hashtag #StopTheViolence. Sharing Alba's sentiment, Ne-Yo said: "We need to come together as one. We have to do better."

Grimmie was posthumously crowned the winner of the Choice web star: Music award but there was no mention of her win during the televised broadcast. One disappointed fan commented: "So at the #teenchoice awards they talked about ending gun violence but fox didnt air Christina Grimmie's win or include a memorial.Shameful."

Others accused the awards of exploiting Grimmie's death beforehand by encouraging fans to vote for the singer in the Choice web star: Music category, only to not then mention her win. One said: "#TeenChoice used Christina Grimmie's death to get views for their award show yet they didnt mention her once. She deserves better than that," while another weighed in: "Teen Choice blatantly exploited Christina Grimmie's death to promote their show only to neglect her in their actual show. I'm so angry."

Addressing the backlash, a source close to Grimmie told Billboard: "[They] chose not to mention Christina's name during the two-hour broadcast. The fans have a right to be upset."

Awards ceremonies often omit certain awards from their broadcast due to time constraints but they sometimes group the smaller awards together for a brief mention.

Fans are expecting the premiere of four new music videos filmed before Grimmie's death throughout August. The visuals will accompany each song featured on the singer's Side A EP and form the short film called The Ballad Of Jessica Blue.

An autopsy report confirms that Grimmie was shot once in the head and once in the chest. The official cause of death was ruled homicide.