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2019 ACM Awards: Reba Doubles Down on Female Exclusion

by
  • Arden is a Senior Country Music Journalist for Country Thang Daily, specializing in classic hits and contemporary chart-toppers.
  • Prior to joining Country Thang Daily, Arden wrote for Billboard and People magazine, covering country music legends and emerging artists.
  • Arden holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Tennessee, with a minor in Music Studies.

We’ve all seen this coming. And frankly, country legend and host for this year’s ACM awards Reba McEntire has something to say about female exclusion.

Reba’s Sharp Criticism

She dealt with sharp criticism at the show for failing to nominate a single female artist for the night’s biggest honor: The Entertainer of the Year Award.

Reba, Reba McEntire, 2019 ACM Awards
via ACM Award’s Official Twitter Account

McEntire was chosen to host the prestigious show for the 16th time in her career. And, without even holding back, she pointed it out that there is a lack of female representation for the top honor of the night in her opening monologue.

“This is my 16th time hosting the show. People always ask me, ‘Do you ever get tired of doing it?’ And I [say], ‘Tired of celebrating great artists of music…tired of being in charge of the biggest night in country music? My name is Reba McEntire and I haven’t been tired in 53 years. I’m a woman in the music biz and we don’t have time for tired.” 

McEntire playfully jabbed that after her hosting gig, she was far from being done. She pointed out that it snowed in Las Vegas, before taking another not so subtle shade at the awards show.

“It froze us women out of entertainer of the year. But you know what that didn’t bother Kacey Musgraves because she’s been too busy carrying all her Grammys around.”

Expressing her Disappointment

On the 20th of February, she went on CBS This Morning to deliver some of the names of the nominees for this year’s awards show. When they got to the Entertainment of the Year award, McEntire was asked what her opinion was with the lack of female nominees.

“It doesn’t make me very happy, because we’ve got some very talented women who are out there working their butts off so[…] I’m missing my girlfriends in this”

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