Kenny Chesney Explains That Face He Made During Beyonce’s Performance With Dixie Chicks At CMAs

Kenny Chesney has a message for the haters who think he was throwing shade at Beyonce during her much-talked-about performance with the Dixie Chicks at the CMAs, telling the Beyhive not to be so quick to judge, ABC News is reporting.

As you may have heard by now, during the County Music Awards (CMAs) last week, the crowd — and the viewers at home — were stunned to see one other than Beyonce take the stage and, joined by the Dixie Chicks, sang her song “Daddy Lessons” from her latest album, Lemonade.

“Daddy Lessons” is one of those songs that has what the music industry calls “crossover appeal” — that is, it has a country “sound” and can appeal to fans of country music, even though the artist is not a country performer.

Even though “Daddy Lessons” has crossover appeal, including Beyonce at the Country Music Awards still seems like a rather strange choice. After all, there’s almost nothing country about Beyonce. She made a name for herself in R&B-inspired pop music, both with her first gig, Destiny’s Child, and as a solo artist. She’s also not exactly country in her personal life; she grew up in Houston and is married to a former crack dealer from Brooklyn, according to Biography.

There’s also the matter that the Dixie Chicks, even though they’re as clearly and unambiguously country as can be, are controversial in the country music community. Back in 2003, as CNN reported at the time, the group was performing in London when lead singer Natalie Maines told the crowd that they were “ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas,” referring to George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq. The statements sparked a heated backlash in the country music community, with radio stations removing their songs from their playlists and fans holding public parties where the groups’ CDs were burned.

Needless to say, the entire situation was ripe for controversy. And for a moment, it appeared as if Kenny Chesney was caught up in it: he was caught on-camera appearing to give serious “stank face,” as Hip Hop Wired called it, at Beyonce’s performance.

Kenny Chesney Claims It’s Not What It Looks Like: “I Love Beyoncé” – https://t.co/ihDCCqV6hB pic.twitter.com/nA4ZSe6JRl

— Indie Music Rox (@IndieMusicRox) November 5, 2016

Now that the dust has had some time to settle, Kenny Chesney is giving something resembling an explanation for that look. In a statement to ABC News, Kenny made it clear that he has no hate for Beyonce.

“I love Beyonce… I loved her Super Bowl performance, her sense of how to make the music hit really hard — and give it drama when she’s onstage. The idea her fans were so quick to judge me, or know what I was thinking doesn’t feel like the woman I’ve always imagined Beyonce to be — and honestly, the people who love her music, either.”

Kenny didn’t explain that look on his face, however. Not that he really needs to: the camera could have just caught him at the exact moment he wasn’t smiling. Or perhaps he had other things on his mind. No one really knows.

Kenny went on to say that country music is not about hate.

“As someone who believes in the message of ‘Spread the Love,’ we try to find the best in people — and in this case, that meant really watching the musicianship on that stage, as well as a guest in our format who’d written an incredible song. I am amazed and saddened this is the response my respect for her art gets.”

Do you think Kenny Chesney was throwing shade at Beyonce during her performance at the CMAs?

[Featured Image by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images]