Maren Morris recalls public feud with Tucker Carlson over LGBTQ rights

Maren Morris made history in New York City on Saturday night when she became the first country music artist to receive the GLAAD Award for Excellence in Media.

During the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards, the Grammy-winning artist was honored by Cynthia Lee Fontaine and Alyssa Edwards.

“I felt a little badass when I sued Tucker Carlson for calling me a maniac for speaking out against transphobia,” Morris told the crowd while holding her trophy. “Maybe I was feeling a little cool. But I don’t want to be happy. I would never insult the recently unemployed.”

Cheers and loud applause erupted in the ballroom of the New York Hilton Midtown, making the “My Church” singer pause and smile.

The LGBTQ+ supporter famously had an argument with the recently-sacked Fox News personality when he called her “crazy” and “fake country singer” during an interview with Brittany Aldean in August.

Country singer Jason Aldean’s wife publicly expressed her opinion against parents who practice gender childcare in a social media post: “I really want to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I entered my tomboy phase lived through.” . I love this girl life.”

Morris responded to this in a series of comments on Instagram. “It’s so easy not to be a dirty person? Sell ​​your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie,” Morris wrote.

The skirmish was just a moment in Morris’ continued support of the LGBTQ+ community. As she continued her speech at the annual ceremony, Morris urged her “country music peers to understand the power of inclusivity.”

“You open yourself and your sound to a much larger audience, even if you lose something in the process,” she explained. “The audience at my shows is a sea of ​​diversity, from race, identity to age. It’s a loving, safe place for my band, my crew, the venue staff and most importantly, my fans. This community stood up for me and made me feel safe when I felt alone and I will never be able to repay it, but I hope to spend the rest of my life and career finding my bearings .”

Other distinguished award winners were also celebrated during the dinner gala, hosted by the world’s largest advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer media.

What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén hosted the evening. Jonathan Van Ness also took home GLAAD’s Vito Russo Award as the first non-binary honoree.

The influential event included encouraging speeches and a special performance by Idina Menzel, who sang her global debut “Move” to notable presenters and attendees including GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, Bob the Drag Queen, Brooke Eden and James T. Lane , Frankie Grande, Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster, Christian Siriano, Trixie Mattel, Tamron Hall, Chris Perfett and Montana State Assemblyman Zooey Zephyr.

“Fire Island”, “Anything’s Possible”, “Heartstopper” and “We’re Here” won the night’s top awards in film and television. “The Problem With Jon Stewart” took home the award for Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode, but Stewart was conspicuously absent from the ceremony.

“Jon is a member of the WGA. Otherwise he would be here,” GLAAD Director of Transgender Advocacy Alex Schmider told the audience while accepting the award on his behalf. “GLAAD naturally stands with Jon and all of the WGA writers. Fair pay, fair working conditions and representation of queer people in writing rooms are urgent and necessary issues facing this industry.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also expressed solidarity with Hollywood workers: “Evenings like this remind us of stories and the importance of treating storytellers with dignity, respect and the value they give.” deserve.” I sincerely hope that the writers’ strike is resolved and the writers get the fair deal they deserve.”

The importance of shared mutual respect across industries was the theme of the evening shared by all GLAAD Media Awards attendees.

“I keep smiling because there is so much joy and love here. I think we had to overcome so much to get this joy,” said actor Colman Domingo diversity on the red carpet earlier in the evening. “It’s like 1,000 disco balls. That’s how it feels tonight.”