Maren Morris is not ready to make nice. The country star took another swipe at her ultra-conservative nemesis, Tucker Carlson, on Saturday night during the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards, where she drew loud cheers from the room packed with LGBTQ rights supporters while accepting the Excellence in Media Award.
“Maybe I felt a little badass taking Tucker Carlson’s calling me a lunatic for standing up to transphobia, turning it into a T-shirt and raising $150,000 for LGBTQ+ charities,” Morris said while accepting the award that recognizes allies who have “made a significant difference in promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people” in their work. “That made me feel a little cool, but I don’t want to gloat. I would never insult the recently unemployed.”
According to The Huffington Post, the swipe at the former Fox News prime time host known for his xenophobic and homophobic rants inspired the crowd to erupt in applause. Carlson was unceremoniously fired, reportedly with little warning, last month in the wake of the conservative network’s $787 million loss in the Dominion Voting lawsuit.
“The crowds at my shows are a sea of diversity, from race, identity to age,” Morris added in her GLAAD acceptance speech. “It is a loving, safe space for my band, crew, venue staff and most notably, my fans. This community stood up for me and made me feel safe when I felt alone and I’ll never be able to repay them, but I hope I get to spend the rest of my life and career settling up.”
Morris’ ding of Carlson was a reference to the host dubbing her a “lunatic” and a “fake country music person” last year when “The Bones” singer was in the midst of a public spat with Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, after the latter posted comments deemed offensive to the transgender community. “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,” Brittany Aldean wrote in a makeup video. Morris initially reacted to Carlson’s firing in late April by posting an Instagram Story in which she wrote “Happy Monday, MotherTucker.”
Morris decided to turn Carlson’s haterade into sweet tea last fall by selling t-shirts with Tucker’s “lunatic” insult that raised more than $150K for Trans Life and GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program. Morris wasn’t done after that, either, going on to join the loud chorus of stars denouncing Tennessee’s anti-drag legislation during a performance at March’s Love Rising benefit concert for LGBTQ causes in Nashville.
Check out a portion of Morris’ speech below.
