Reba McEntire calls out ACM Awards after announcing only men were nominated for Entertainer of the Year
Country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves’s latest work was good enough to clean up at the this month’s Grammy Awards, which recognize many different types of music, but she isn’t among those nominated for the top honor at the upcoming 54th Academy of Country Music Awards.
Reba McEntire revealed nominees for the ACMs on Wednesday, seven weeks before she’ll host the April 7 ceremony in Las Vegas. Entertainer of the Year nominees included Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban — but no Musgraves or any other woman.
It was a slight that McEntire noticed.
“It doesn’t make me very happy because we’ve got some very talented women out there who are working their butts off,” she told the Tennessean. “I’m missing my girlfriends on this list.”
Carrie Underwood and other women in country music have spoken out in recent years about the industry’s gender imbalance.
“Even when I was growing up, I wished there was more women on the radio, and I had a lot more than there are today,” she said on the Women Want to Hear Women podcast in September 2018. “I think about all the little girls that are sitting at home saying, ‘I want to be a country music singer.’ What do you tell them, you know? What do you do? How do you look at them and say, ‘Well, just work hard, sweetie, and you can do it’ when that’s probably not the case right now?”
Fans of country music noticed the lack of women too. They noted that Musgraves nabbed five nominations in all, including for the big categories of Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Song of the Year, yet she still wasn’t named. The last time a woman took home the award was in 2011, when Taylor Swift won.
Is this a joke?!?!? What a slap in the face. Disappointed but NOT surprised 😒 #ACMAwards pic.twitter.com/bogtUWPac0
— Madeleine Molly (@madeleinemollyd) February 20, 2019
Just a thought, maybe all the female country Artists should Boycott the #ACMawards then maybe that will get their attention.
— ray mallaber 3 (@raymallaber3) February 20, 2019
Oh look, the @ACMawards nominations were announced and once again, an all-male Ent of the Year category. I cannot understand how they’ve given @mirandalambert so many female-categorized awards, but refuse to recognize her via the biggest honor. #ACMawards #ACM2019
— Katie (@simply_katie22) February 20, 2019
There are a lot of great acts up for Entertainer of the Year but I’m really disappointed again how there is not one single female act up for the biggest award or many other awards for that matter :/#ACMawards
— Kellie (@kellieemonahan) February 20, 2019
Sooooo @KaceyMusgraves dominates at an all genre forum for music and y’all can’t even get a female- just 1- in this category?! pic.twitter.com/dD8QyhRtnt
— Katie Hennessey (@kay_hennessey) February 20, 2019
@KaceyMusgraves has been touring #harrystyles, musical guest #SNL plus tv music perf. & guest appearances, & won huge awards like #GRAMMYs BUT SHE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR #ACMAwards #EOTY ?!! This doesn’t make sense to me. I’m not saying she needs win but not even #nomination ? https://t.co/T6GE1M2OWD
— Liz Just Liz (@LizJustLiz80) February 20, 2019
Winners will be unveiled during the Academy of Country Music Awards, which air April 7 at 8 p.m. on CBS. The show will also be live-streamed on CBS All Access.
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