Maren Morris says she 'felt a little badass' when Tucker Carlson called her a 'lunatic'

Maren Morris sees the upside in bumping heads with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson., she revealed in her speech at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday night.

Last year Carlson described the Grammy winner as a "lunatic" and a "fake country music singer" after she sparred online with his guest Brittany Aldean, wife of fellow country music star Jason Aldean, over transgender rights. Morris went on to have the moniker "lunatic country music person" emblazoned on T-shirts, with proceeds benefitting Trans Lifeline and GLAAD's Transgender Media Program.

As the "Humble Quest" singer took the stage to receive GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award, she shared how being on the receiving end of Carlson's ire actually served her quite well.

“Fine, maybe I felt a little badass taking Tucker Carlson’s calling me a lunatic for standing up to transphobia, turning it into a T-shirt and raising $150,000 for LGBTQ+ charities, yeah,” the singer shared before referencing Carlson's firing from Fox News last month. “That made me feel a little cool, but I don’t want to gloat. I would never insult the recently unemployed.”

But there's clearly no love lost. After hearing the news that Carlson had been fired by Fox, Morris wrote “Happy Monday, MotherTucker,” on her Instagram Stories, adding a screenshot from the September 2022 episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight in which the former anchor referred to her a “lunatic.” The post was set to Taylor Swift’s hit song “Karma." Morris also shared a story with an image of a rainbow graphic with the words “the only tuckers allowed are the drag queens” streaming across it.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times last fall, Morris addressed her feud with the Aldeans, which started when the "My Church" performer spoke out against Brittany Aldean's wrote on social media that she'd "really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life."

"There's a very insidious culture of people feeling very comfortable being transphobic and homophobic and racist, and that they can wrap it in a joke and no one will ever call them out for it," Morris, who was booed when Jason Aldean referenced her during a concert, told the newspaper. "It just becomes normal for people to behave like that."

During her speech on Saturday, Morris looked back on her teen years as "the weird, shy girl in 7th grade" who found solace in the queer community.

"This community stood up for me and made me feel safe when I felt alone and I will never be able to repay you. But I hope I get to spend the rest of my life and career settling up," she told the crowd. Her message of inclusivity also included a declaration that she's "not brave — stubborn to the point of delusional, yes — but not brave."

"I'm a straight white woman, I'm fine. But leaving your house knowing you can face violence just for being who you are, risking your life just for walking down the street, that is bravery," she noted.