Maren Morris Says She Might Not Attend This Year’s CMA Awards: ‘I Don’t Feel Comfortable Going’

Maren Morris has been nominated for the album of the year award at this year’s CMA Awards, but she revealed she’s unsure if she will be in attendance. 

Her mixed feelings about attending the award show comes amid a public feud with Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, who made a transphobic comment on Instagram in response to the Florida Department of Health’s new guidance that advises against any form of gender-affirming care for transgender kids.

During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Morris shared that she tends to feel uncomfortable at these industry events in general and with the added tension, it might not be in the cards for her this year. 

“Honestly, I haven’t decided if I’m gonna go,” Morris said. “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 added, “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.”

The country singer received a CMA nomination for her record, Humble Quest, just a few weeks after the back-and-forth comments started between her and the country star’s wife. 

On August 24, Brittany shared a clip of herself putting on makeup with her 2.2 million followers on Instagram. The XO Britt Aldean owner posted the clip, which was soundtracked to Beyoncé’s 2006 hit “Upgrade U,” with a caption that read, “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.” 

Morris was quick to share her shock and disappointment in the transphobic comment, along with other country stars like Cassadee Pope, Lindsay Ell and more, who also took to social media to give their opinions on the matter. 

“You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging,” Pope wrote. ”But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.”

Morris, a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, weighed in on the topic in response to Pope’s Tweet.

“It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie,” Morris wrote, referencing Brittany’s hair extension collection.

It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.

— MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) August 26, 2022

Brittany then made an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News to talk about the internet fight, which sparked Carlson to label Morris a “Lunatic Country Music Person.”

Morris decided to fight back in her own way and turned the phrase into a charitable act. She put the phrase on t-shirts and through sales, she raised more than $150,000 for the Trans Lifeline and GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program.

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“I don’t have feelings of kindness when it comes to humans being made fun of for questioning their identity, especially kids,” she told the outlet. “The whole ‘When they go low, we go high’ thing doesn’t work with these people. Any resistance movement is not done with kind words. And there’s a lot worse things I could’ve called her [than ‘Insurrection Barbie’].”

Once Brittany Aldean saw Pope’s response, she immediately took to her Instagram stories to give her own statement. 

“Advocating for the genital mutilation of children under the disguise of love and calling it ‘gender-affirming care’ is one of the worst evils,” she wrote. “Some parents want to be accepted by society so badly, that they’re willing to make life-altering decisions for their children who aren’t old enough to fully comprehend the consequences of those actions. Love is protecting your child until they are mature enough as an adult to make their own life decisions.”

While Jason Aldean has mostly strayed from getting involved, he did write, “MY Barbie” on his wife’s Instagram post in reference to Morris’ previous “insurrection barbie” comment.

Although it was not revealed to be the reasoning, just days after Brittany posted the transphobic comments, The GreenRoom PR, Jason Aldean’s longtime publicist, announced their decision to cut ties with the country singer after 17 years. 

The GreenRoom PR co-owner Tyne Parrish told Billboard, “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. 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.”

Jason has also received a nomination for Musical Event Of The Year ahead of the 2022 CMA Awards Show, which is slated to air live from Nashville on Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 8-11 p.m. EST on ABC.