CMA Awards Slammed After Carrie Underwood Goes Home Empty-Handed
The CMA Awards is feeling the heat after Carrie Underwood went home empty-handed last night (November 13), despite being nominated for three awards. Carrie — who hosted the show alongside Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire and performed her latest single, “Drinking Alone” — was passed up for Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year (for her 2018 release Cry Pretty) and the biggest award of the night, Entertainer of the Year.
Prior to the show, which aired live on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Carrie was the big fan favorite to take home Entertainer of the Year after a stellar year that saw her return as the face of NBC’s Sunday Night Football and head across the globe on her “Cry Pretty Tour 360,” to name just a couple of her big achievements.
A number of famous faces even campaigned on behalf of the mom of two, including Miranda Lambert who recently became emotional as she discussed all the reasons she thought Carrie should go home the big winner. Country trio Runaway June also publicly backed her to win.
However, on the night, Carrie was passed up for Kacey Musgraves for Female Vocalist of the Year, Maren Morris for Album of the Year, and Garth Brooks for Entertainer of the Year, and it’s the latter that really had fans fired up on social media.
Many flocked to Twitter during the broadcast to put CMA on serious blast.
Current mood after @carrieunderwood got snubbed tonight pic.twitter.com/gcEHRbNauq
— Tyler Lewis (@MusicCityTyler) November 14, 2019
Ummmmm….what on THE EARTH does @carrieunderwood have to do to actually WIN a #CMAawards She got snubbed once again.?????????
— Brittany Freeman (@Britt0810) November 14, 2019
Wow…that was just a disgrace…shame on you @CountryMusic You’ve snubbed her for so many years and I thought this would finally be the one and that’s who you pick ? @carrieunderwood you overly deserved #EOTY
— Kelsey Benson (@KelseyB1117) November 14, 2019
The #CMAawards are actually rubbish! Not reflective of country music fans thoughts at all. @carrieunderwood was snubbed and I’m mad about it.
— Lois Griffiths (@LoisLouiseGriff) November 14, 2019
It was a good #CMAawards until that just happened! @carrieunderwood you deserved #EntertainerOfTheYear but you don’t need an award to prove your badassness! #teamcarrie
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) November 14, 2019
Others were quick to point out that the 53rd Annual CMA Awards claimed to be all about celebrating the women of country music amid a lot of noise about females within the genre not getting enough airplay on country radio.
That’s why Carrie co-hosted alongside special guest hosts Reba and Dolly instead of her longtime co-host Brad Paisley, who did not attend last night’s event.
How, HOW, in a year when the #CMAawards are celebrating the “legendary women of country” does Carrie Underwood lose EOTY to Garth?
I love Garth. He’s amazing. But what has he done in the past year compared to Carrie? #1 Album, one of the top tours of the year, voice of SNF.
— Connie Grogan (@ConnieGrogan3) November 14, 2019
THIS IS MY EOTY!! @CountryMusic got it so wrong! Carrie did absolutely everything right! Yet she gets snubbed again! I’ll say it, if @carrieunderwood was a man she would’ve won that award 3Xs over! #CU4EOTY #CMAawards #CMA pic.twitter.com/dgzixkDFwn
— Julia Bell (@JuliaBell00) November 14, 2019
Y’all can bet I won’t forget this as the year that @CountryMusic used a theme of supporting women. And then snubbed the woman who worked harder than all of the men combined. @carrieunderwood deserves better than this. https://t.co/iB8cLMc7X3
— meredith (@merelengel) November 14, 2019
How tone deaf was the entire #CMAawards to celebrate women in country music just to give Entertainer of the Year to Garth Brooks for the 7th damn time. Why do you hate Carrie Underwood @CountryMusic?
— Matty (@Matty_9889) November 14, 2019
Others praised Carrie for returning to the stage to close out the show after her loss. One viewer tweeted that her “taking the stage after she was absolutely robbed” was a show of “pure class” from the “Something in the Water” singer.
They added, “I would have stormed out of that place and gave them the middle finger. It’s the least they deserve. Disgusting. #CMAawards.”
“God bless @carrieunderwood for coming out to close the show after losing the big award of the night,” another fan tweeted. “You should have more than one of them by now! #CMAawards.”
Other viewers vented their frustration online, including Country Music Now publishing a blog post shortly after the award show ended titled, “Carrie Underwood Should Have Been the 2019 CMA Entertainer of the Year.” In it, the site listed a number of reasons why they felt the star was snubbed during the awards.
Carrie spoke candidly before the show about how much she wanted to win. She shared how if she took home the biggest award of the night, it would not only be a win for her but for all the women in country music across the board.
“I personally feel like Entertainer, it’s everything, right? So I feel like people kind of narrow it down to tour, but I feel like there’s so many more components to it,” she said, per ABC News Radio Online.
“It would be amazing,” Carrie then said of her hopes to win. “Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it. Sorry, boys!”
