The County Music Association has denied removing evidence of Beyonce’s performance with The Dixie Chicks in hopes of pleasing those who dislike the singer’s stance on the Black Lives Matter movement.
The hoopla began on Thursday (Nov. 3) following the singer’s not-so-surprise performance at the 49th annual show Wednesday evening (Nov.2). Videos and photos from Bey’s special rendition of “Daddy’s Lessons,” were on CMAworld.com as well as CMA’s social accounts. As the day went on, nearly every mention of the singer vanished from the association’s social channels, except a repost from Beyonce’s Instagram account.
A report from TMZ claimed the CMA’s scrubbed their social accounts over the racist comments that came in from fans and trolls. Tweets and Facebook comments like, “That’s right folks. Beyonce performed at the CMAs last night & is on a mission to take country music away from us, hardworking white people!” and “Beyonce overrated racist n***er b***h” were reportedly seen on their Facebook account. The Dixie Chicks also faced scrutiny and were called “racist,” “anti-police,” and “against America.” A source claimed the network was worried about the comments and “just want this to go away.”
In a statement to E! News, the association explained nothing was erased but a promo of Bey for the show. “CMA has not erased any mentions of Beyoncé’s performance on the CMA Awards,” the statement reads. “In advance of the broadcast, CMA removed a 5-second promotional clip from ABC.com and CMA’s Facebook page. The promo was unapproved and CMA removed it prior to the broadcast. Beyoncé’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 responded by tweeting the track to “drown out the hate.” Ironically, the trio hadn’t performed at the CMA’s since Natalie Maines’ comments on former President George W. Bush in 2003. Since then, the group were subjected to racist and sexist backlash from the country music industry. Maines also had a few things to say following the incident.
If we all turn this up really loud, together we can drown out the hate. https://t.co/PWJcDeNmuR
— The Chicks (@thechicks) November 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/1NatalieMaines/status/794092799490719744
https://twitter.com/1NatalieMaines/status/794308700475297793
On the upside, a studio version of the performance has been added to Bey’s Soundcloud page. An image from the ladies’ performance was also recently uploaded to CMA’s Facebook page.
Relive the highlight from the CMA’s below.