Luke Bryan stands behind ACM host Reba McEntire’s call out. Bryan himself was also surprised that there was a startling lack of female nominees for Entertainer of the Year at the upcoming ACM Awards, and he’s all for McEntire speaking up about it.
Photo Credits: Billboard
Bryan sat down with Buzzfeed News and expressed his support for the country legend for standing up to the systems in country music that was in place.
“”Somebody like Reba has to stand up and say to the Academy of Country Music and all forms of country music awards shows. It does get a little bit tricky when it is a naturally male-heavy format, but there’s so many women out there that should feel the right to speak up.”
Reba’s Call Out
Previously, McEntire has already expressed her disappointment over the lack of female representation in the ACM Awards.
via Reba McEntire’s Official Twitter Account
She went on CBS This Morning to deliver some of the names of the nominees for this year’s awards show, together with a scathing comment about the lack of females in the Entertainment of the Year award.
“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”
Check out the full interview here!
She even went on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to put emphasis on her statement.
Several others have also moved to put the discussion of the lack of female representation in country music. Female powerhouses such as Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Cam, and Miranda Lambert have all been very vocal about the issue.
via Maren Morris Official Twitter Account
To shed an even bigger spotlight on it, Carrie Underwood and Morris are set to bring an all-female roster on their tours, Cry Pretty Tour 360 and Girl: The World Tour, respectively.
Country superstar Keith Urban has also taken the initiative to highlight very talented female artists. He featured Kassi Ashton as a guest vocalist on his song “Drop Top.” He also lent his vocal prowess on Jillian Jaqueline’s “If I Were You.” Meanwhile, Dierks Bentley vocalized his support during his Nashville Stop on his Burning Man Tour.