Maren Morris was honored at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards New York with the Excellence in Media Award. The singer-songwriter took the stage to accept the award and recalled her feud with former Fox News star Tucker Carlson.
It was back in September 2022 that Morris found herself in the middle of a feud with social media influencer Brittany Aldean, the wife of country singer Jason Aldean. Morris was standing up against a transphobic post shared by Brittany. When the influencer was given a platform by Carlson, both took the opportunity to take jabs at Morris calling her a “lunatic,” something that the singer says emboldened her.
“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,” Morris said. “That made me feel a little cool, but I don’t want to gloat. I would never insult the recently unemployed.”
Carlson was ousted by Fox News last month in what was said to be a mutual agreement. The television personality’s exit coincided with the network agreeing to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle the election software company’s defamation claim.
In her speech, Morris also talked about how the LGBTQ+ community embraced her in junior high and why her speaking up against transphobia is not brave.
“I have heard countless times over the years that I’m one of the brave voices in country music but that is not true,” she said. “I’m not brave — stubborn to the point of delusional, yes — but not brave. Making the right decision shouldn’t take bravery or courage. It shouldn’t take heroic effort to want basic equal rights for everybody. 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.”
Watch Morris’ complete acceptance speech in the video posted below.