Morris is up for Album of the Year
At this time, Maren Morris says she doesn’t “feel comfortable” attending the CMA Awards this fall after a recent online feud with Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany. The country star tells the LA Times that she may not attend the annual show in Nashville — despite being nominated for “Album of the Year” — over what she, and others, feel were transphobic comments made by the conservative social media influencer last month.
“Honestly, I haven’t decided if I’m gonna go,” Morris shares. “I’m very honored that my record is nominated. But I don’t know if I feel [at] home there right now. So many people I love will be in that room, and maybe I’ll make a game-time decision and go. But as of right now, I don’t feel comfortable going.”
She continues, “I think I was more sad going last year. Some nights are fun. Others I’m just crawling out of my skin. I’m not good at those events because I’m awkward. But this time I kind of feel peaceful at the notion of not going.”
In August, Brittany Aldean, who has 2.3 million followers on Instagram, posted a video of herself applying makeup with the caption, “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life.”
Jason commented on his wife’s post with a laughing-crying emoji, “Lmao!! Im glad they didn’t too, cause you and I wouldn’t have worked out.”
This sparked a bitter feud between the Aldeans and liberal country singers such as Morris and Cassadee Pope. Pope commented on Twitter, “You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.”
Morris replied to Pope, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.”
Brittany Aldean responded by launching a Barbie-inspired clothing line that reads “Don’t Tread On Our Kids” with all proceeds benefiting Operation Light Shine that helps fight against child exploitation and human trafficking.
She also followed with an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, where the host called Morris a “lunatic country music person who I hope leaves country music immediately.”
That sparked Morris to launch a line of her own that reads “Maren Morris Lunatic Country Music Person” with more than $150,000 raised so far for two transgender non profits.
The controversy saw Jason Aldean lose his long-time PR firm, The GreenRoom, although the company doesn’t mention their reason behind dropping their client after 17 years.
“Music has always been and remains The GreenRoom’s core focus, so we had to make the difficult decision after 17 years to step away from representing Jason,” co-owner Tyne Parrish says. “We aren’t the best people for the gig anymore, but will always be big fans of his music—he is one of the greatest live entertainers in country music.”
Despite the back and forth, Morris tells the LA Times that she doesn’t look at her own audience differently.
“I don’t think I lost any fans over this,” she says. “I’ve been very clear from the get-go. It sucks when artists stay quiet, stay quiet, stay quiet, and then they finally reach their breaking point and have to say something because something is so unjust or disgusting. And then they lose half their crowd because they stayed quiet. I try to tell my husband this, because he’s still building: Let people know where you stand. The ones who don’t get it will fall away, but the ones that stick with you will know what they’re contributing to.”
The 56th Annual CMA Awards air this November from Nashville.
