Luke Bryan Insists He Didn’t Insult Beyoncé On Purpose

By Emma Chance | Celebrity | October 8, 2024 |

By Emma Chance | Celebrity | October 8, 2024 |

Beyoncé was completely ignored by the Country Music Awards this year, despite her album country album Cowboy Carter outselling basically everybody. She received not one nomination. Neither did Luke Bryan, and he’s clearly bitter about it.

“Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about it,” he said on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show last week. “But where things get a little tricky—if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit. Like, Beyoncé can do exactly what she wants to. She’s probably the biggest star in music. But come to an award show and high-five us and have fun and get in the family, too. And I’m not saying she didn’t do that…but country music is a lot about family.”

Obviously, Bryan hasn’t been paying attention. She famously brought The Chicks—legendary country music artists who have been ostracized from the “family” for their political beliefs—to perform at the CMAs with her in 2016. The backlash from the country music establishment was so great that it’s literally what inspired Cowboy Carter. When she announced the album, she wrote that it was “born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed.” The album itself, which Bryan has probably not listened to, is largely about Black musicians feeling left out of the genre and playing with the concept of “genre” in general for how it isolates people instead of simply promoting good art.

But, yeah. Family and stuff.

Bryan responded to criticism for his comments by posting the following statement:

Hey yall, I’m wrapping up the last night of my tour tonight and it’s been an amazing time. For that I am thankful.

I am posting tonight based on the ridiculous nature of the headlines I have read the last couple days from an interview on the Andy Cohen show I did this week when…

— Luke Bryan (@lukebryan) October 7, 2024

I am posting tonight based on the ridiculous nature of the headlines I have read the last couple days from an interview on the Andy Cohen show I did this week when I was promoting my album. I feel in my heart I could not let media create a false narrative. As I read thru the comments of some of you I just want to say that I encourage all of you to listen to the interview instead of reading click bait headlines. You will hear my tone and intentions which were not negative. I respect Beyonce and I love how loyal her fans are. I spend a lot of time supporting other artists. I want everyone to win. Love yall

Honestly, this is exactly in keeping with the country music establishment’s definition of family—one that excludes minorities and casts shame and doubt on anything new or different—so none of this is a surprise. He pretty much proved Beyoncé’s point.