{"id":267308,"date":"2023-04-06T06:50:59","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T06:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=267308"},"modified":"2023-04-07T07:32:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T07:32:00","slug":"cmt-music-awards-go-woke-kelsea-ballerini-stands-in-solidarity-with-drag-queens-seeking-child-audiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=267308","title":{"rendered":"CMT Music Awards go woke: Kelsea Ballerini stands in solidarity with drag queens seeking child audiences"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Breibart.com \u2013 April 2, 2023<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Country singer Kelsea Ballerini opened the CMT Music Awards with a tribute to victims of a school shooting while sharing in that community\u2019s grief, then danced alongside drag artists as states across the country\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/local\/2023\/04\/01\/judge-blocks-tn-law-aimed-at-protecting-children-from-seeing-drag-shows\/\">consider legally<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/06\/04\/watch-drag-queens-dance-in-front-of-babies-toddlers-at-dallas-pride-event\/\">limiting<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2023\/03\/04\/bondage-themed-drag-queen-show-for-babies-forced-to-cancel-shows-after-public-backlash\/\">drag<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/social-justice\/2022\/06\/19\/child-tips-drag-queen-fake-exposed-breasts-bar\/\">show<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/07\/26\/exclusive-ron-desantis-florida-files-complaint-against-bar-that-held-lewd-drag-show-for-kids\/\">performances<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">if you go down, i\u2019m going down too \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \/\/ thank you to these iconic queens and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/manilaluzon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@manilaluzon<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kennedyddoftx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kennedyddoftx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/janjanjan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@janjanjan<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOliviaLux?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TheOliviaLux<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CMT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CMT<\/a> for celebrating love, self expression, and performance.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcf8 John Shearer <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GettyImages?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GettyImages<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jZ3JTVI3ny\">pic.twitter.com\/jZ3JTVI3ny<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KelseaBallerini\/status\/1642740781482930176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 3, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Ballerini, a co-host of the annual awards show with singer Kane Brown, opened the Austin, Texas, show by listing the names of six victims\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covenant-nashville-school-shooting-what-to-know-c46251973f815a3862312d6131cd552e\">three adults and three 9-year-olds<\/a>\u00a0who were killed Monday at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. She noted how she shared their pain, explaining that in 2008 she witnessed a school shooting in her hometown high school cafeteria in Knoxville and prayed for \u201creal action\u201d that would protect children and families.<\/p>\n<p>About two hours into the fan-voted awards show, the Tennessee native sang \u201cIf You Go Down (I\u2019m Going Down Too)\u201d and danced with Kennedy Davenport, Jan Sport, Manila Luzon and Olivia Lux, all stars of the show \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race.\u201d<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CwJDLeCsVb0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n&#8212;<\/div>\n<p>Her home state of Tennessee was the first to place strict limits on drag show performances, which were set to take effect this month. The law has been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lgbtq-drag-tennessee-lawsuit-490e12cd44dc3133b6424409e63f94c9\">temporarily blocked<\/a>\u00a0after a lawsuit was filed earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Country superstar and five-time Grammy winner\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/shania-twain-music-surgery-entertainment-9577110d73cc7dead0629dba6eb2790a\">Shania Twain<\/a>\u00a0was given the Equal Play Award, recognizing her for being a \u201cvisible and vocal advocate\u201d for diverse voices in country music. Texas native and Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion introduced Twain, the pair dancing and hugging to Twain\u2019s hit, \u201cMan, I Feel Like a Woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics to the song became an undercurrent to a decades-long career of advocacy, Twain said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI promise I will continue to champion the many outstanding country artists that are not currently played, they are not currently streamed, toured, signed or awarded at the level they deserve,\u201d Twain said. \u201cI believe in an all-inclusive country music.\u201d<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3sRD5IAAkFs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n&#8212;<\/div>\n<p>Leading nominee Lainey Wilson picked up early wins with female video of the year for \u201cHeart Like a Truck\u201d and collaborative video of the year for \u201cWait in the Truck\u201d with HARDY.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy heart is \u2019bout to beat right out my chest, I\u2019ll be honest with y\u2019all,\u201d Wilson said after winning female video of the year, calling the hit song an anthem for surviving the \u201cscratches, the dents and the bumps along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s CMT Music Awards merged country, rock and blues straight from the heart of Texas, featuring performances including collaborations with Alanis Morissette, The Black Crowes, Gwen Stefani and Gary Clark Jr. and tributes to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Stevie Ray Vaughn.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-travel-arts-and-country-music-nashville-1682427e32f2893194ef3707115fb56c\">Country Music Hall of Famer Wynonna Judd<\/a>\u00a0and Ashley Judd performed a cover of Foreigner\u2019s \u201cI Want to Know What Love is\u201d while heavy fog rolled over the stage and into the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Pop singer Stefani performed her No Doubt mid-1990s pop-punk hit \u201cJust a Girl\u201d alongside country singer Carly Pearce. Jelly Roll, already a double winner, brought a choir out for his prayer-themed song \u201cNeed a Favor\u201d and got the crowd to raise their hands to the roof.<\/p>\n<p>Carrie Underwood has a chance to extend her record as the most awarded artist in CMT history with 25 awards. Underwood, who also will perform, was nominated again for video of the year for \u201cHate My Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four-time Grammy winner Clark Jr. performed a tribute to the late Texas guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn at the top of the show.<\/p>\n<p>Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd will be honored with a tribute performance following the death in March of the last original member,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lynyrd-skynyrd-guitarist-gary-rossington-died-4c8974380d034e916a39fbf50c606387\">Gary Rossington<\/a>. ZZ Top\u2019s Billy Gibbons, Slash of Guns N\u2019 Roses and the Allman Brothers\u2019 Warren Haynes and Chuck Leavell are set to perform with singers Paul Rodgers and Cody Johnson with backup vocals from LeAnn Rimes and Judd.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/entertainment\/2023\/04\/02\/cmt-music-awards-go-woke-kelsea-ballerini-stands-in-solidarity-with-drag-queens-seeking-child-audiences\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Make no mistake, the careers of many of these country music stars probably depended on their participating in this event. Had they towed the line their time in the spotlight would have been over <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":267311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Current_Affairs","category-The_Media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267308"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267310,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267308\/revisions\/267310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/267311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=267308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=267308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}