*After folks noticed that Beyonce was nowhere to be found on the Country Music Association’s website and social media accounts following the backlash over her performance at Thursday’s awards show, the group addressed the controversy in a statement.
As previously reported, nearly 24 hours after Bey joined the Dixie Chicks for a performance of “Daddy Lessons” from her “Lemonade” album, a search for “Beyonce” and “The Dixie Chicks” on the show’s official website, CMAWorld.com, and Twitter account, @CountryMusic, yields zero results mentioning either act or their joint performance.
Fans quickly called foul, blaming the scrubbing on CMA’s attempt to appease the country music fans who came out in force against Beyonce’s appearance.
A rep for the Country Music Association claims racism had nothing to do with their decision, and that one promo clip was removed from the website and their Facebook page because it was “unapproved.”
They sent the following statement to Billboard:
“CMA has not erased any mentions of Beyonce’s performance on the CMA Awards. In advance of the broadcast, CMA removed a five-second promotional clip from ABC.com and CMA’s Facebook page. The promo was unapproved and CMA removed it prior to the broadcast. Beyonce’s performance with Dixie Chicks was a highlight of the evening and we are continuing to share the amazing full-length performance clip via our official social channels.”
The Dixie Chicks – who were run out of Nashville themselves in 2003, when they dared to speak out against then President George Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz – tweeted out against the backlash Thursday with a link to their free download of the studio version of “Daddy Lessons” with Bey:
If we all turn this up really loud, together we can drown out the hate. https://t.co/PWJcDeNmuR
— Dixie Chicks (@dixiechicks) November 3, 2016
Later on Thursday, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines joked that her band and Beyonce had been invited back to co-host the show next year, but she had to decline.
Hey everybody!The CMA’s just called and asked us to co-host next year’s show with Beyoncé.Unfortunately I’ve got a thing that night so, no.
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016
Proving herself the ultimate BeyHive member, Natalie went on to say she had “used” the CMA Awards to fulfill her ultimate dream of performing with Beyonce. She also stanned out a bit before putting an exclamation point on the whole controversy with a quote from “Formation.”
@marykatestar It’s ok. I used them to fulfill my dream of singing with Bey.
(On their dime;)— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016
Ok! I can finally talk about one of the greatest weeks of my life! Thank you @Beyonce ! You slay. All day! pic.twitter.com/XJCOrdweih
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016
I’m pretty sure I’ve uttered the sentence,”I will never perform on the CMA’s again as long as I live.”
And then came ?:)— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016
“You know you dat Bitch when you cause all this conversation. Always stay gracious best revenge is your paper.” #Bey #Slay
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016
Despite going head-to-head in the ratings against Game 7 of the World Series, 12.8 million viewers tuned in to ABC for the 50th installment of the CMAs, a solid viewership haul that fell a million shy of last year’s telecast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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