The CMAs were a maskless, indoor super-spreader event without social distancing

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The Country Music Awards were held last night in Nashville. Ahead of the awards show, executives told media outlets that they were aiming for a socially-distant show, but a live, in person show nonetheless, with hundreds of people in an indoor venue. The idea was “fewer people than usual” and a red carpet where people social-distanced, but it was still chaotic and maskless. Many people didn’t wear masks on the carpet OR during the show, and the seating arrangements looked awful too, as Vulture pointed out: “there were at least 20 booths/tables which by our expert calculations would mean at least 80 people (not counting crew members and performers) are currently in an enclosed space listening to live music at the height of the pandemic.” So, the CMAs were a super-spreader event.

Also worth noting: several performers and acts had to pull out of the CMAs at the last minute because they either tested positive for the virus during the CMA-required covid-testing, or they were exposed by family or friends and had to quarantine. Some of the people who pulled out at the last minute: Lady A, Rascal Flatts, Jenee Fleenor, Lee Brice and Florida Georgia Line. Shambolic.

Anyway, enjoy these photos of Miranda Lambert and her out-of-work Hot Cop. At no point did Miranda or WhatsHisBadge wear a mask! Miranda’s ex, Blake Shelton, was not there. I honestly think they trade off which awards shows they go to.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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59 Responses to “The CMAs were a maskless, indoor super-spreader event without social distancing”

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  1. Case says:

    Wow, seriously? Every other main award show has been virtual/hybrid, and they just decided it was a good idea to switch to in-person when we have 100k+ cases a day? Astonishingly stupid and selfish.

    • pottymouth pup says:

      probably didn’t want to piss off their fan base, most of which are die-hard Trump supporters (and I’m sure RWNJ like Travis Tritt would have pitched a public fit on Parler)

      • Case says:

        The ACMs were truly socially distanced and they seemed to do a great job with it!

      • one of the Marys says:

        Noooo not Travis Tritt! Really? Damn

      • pottymouth pup says:

        @one of the Marys – he’s a die-hard right winger /Trump supporter on twitter (he recently claimed voter suppression against Trump voters) so I’m sure he’s a joy in the echochamber that Parler is

  2. Mai says:

    There’s news today that Doctors without Borders are concentrating their effort to fight covid in the USA. The wealthiest country in the world now looking like a third-world country at the moment it seems.

    • Chica1971 says:

      Please don’t ditch 3rd world country because lots of them are doing better than the US. Access to $$ and privileges does not equal intelligence. Exhibit A – Trump and his posse

      • ME says:

        Exactly. “Third World” does not equal “stupid”. The problem with America is that so many Americans really don’t seem to give a damn about the virus. There are a lot of countries where people are taking the virus very seriously, hence low rates of transmission.

      • Mac says:

        Haiti has more sophisticated contact tracing that the US and it is one of the poorest countries in the world. The US has chosen this path. People choose to not wear masks and choose to not social distance. Spreading deadly misinformation about the virus is completely legal.

      • Jules says:

        It’s quite clear that without consciousness, with extreme wealth comes greed, corruption and narcissism. People are selfishly focused on themselves and there is no desire to help others. The scales have really tipped here in the US and we are seeing the level of corruption we are at.

    • MaryContrary says:

      The third world has handled covid better than we have. It’s a fucking disgrace and I will forever hold Trump/Pence/Kushner responsible for hundreds of thousands of unnecessary American deaths.

    • Eenie Googles says:

      This comment is so rude and America-centric, I can’t. The hubris is .
      And no one says « third-world » anymore. It’s insulting.

      • paranormalgirl says:

        I was thinking the same thing. “Third World”? Yeah. No. Disadvantaged countries? Yes. Marginalized countries? Yes. But being disadvantaged and marginalized does not mean backward and useless, and that’s the image that “third world country” projects these days. No. Just no.

      • Kinsley says:

        Yes, it was a very offensive comment!! 😒 😐

      • one of the Marys says:

        I think that’s Mai’s point, they’re America centric, arrogant and think their response is superior to countries they would look down on due to wealth and race. How are some of those ‘shit hole’ countries looking now Donald?

      • laura-j says:

        Agreed, I think the latest term is developing nations… and luckily we will begin to develop with our new president elect. Sigh.

    • Anna says:

      Yes. And that whole framing of “first world” and “third world” is imperialist and colonialist propaganda. I find it so maddening to hear those terms. And if we want to be specific, the *actual* *first* world is the continent of Africa.

      And I’m also surprised at the number of people who talk about the image of America or this is as a great nation (*not* talking here about maga). That view is only a propaganda construction fed to people in the United States in order to justify and make people turn a blind eye to international policies and violence. It has positioned the U.S. as a bully that tampers with everyone else’s elections, staging coups to destroy democracies all the way up through the present while riding on some “we’re the best” b.s. How are some people only just now becoming aware of this? The “ugly American” is a real thing and one reason I avoid associating with people from the U.S. when traveling because I just can’t (and especially as a Black woman, I don’t need to re-experience white American racism when I’m away from this country).

      And it’s this attitude that is contributing to the terrible and growing covid numbers, this arrogant, selfish, navel-gazing that Americans seem to have *across demographics*. I’m especially amazed by the lack of mask wearing in communities that have been traditionally disenfranchised and for whom the statistics are so much higher of virus infection rates. This American arrogance crosses all racial borders and it shows up everywhere. Entitlement and a complete disregard for and lack of consideration for others and for oneself as a part of an imperialist nation, the belief that anything you want is and should be yours.

      • Golly Gee says:

        Well said! There is also such hypocrisy. The US has caused so much death and destruction around the world in the name of freedom, human rights Or whatever label they need to put on it in order to justify their actions when it’s really about power, control and money/oil/resources. When there is nothing to be gained in this regard, they don’t interfere regardless of human rights violations. You only have to look at the poor Palestinians being kept prisoner for absolutely no reason and being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas on the West Bank, how apartheid was ignored for so long in South Africa or the seizure of Tibet and what has happened to the people there. I completely condemn 9/11, terrorism and violence, but that was really the first instance of the turkey coming home to roost. There was such outrage but no understanding of the many times greater amount of harm and death the US has caused around the world and that 9/11 was born of this self-interested interference. This is just my perception from what I remember seeing in the media at the time. If there was such introspection, it made up a very small part of media coverage.

  3. Mignionette says:

    Why am I not surprised.

    This is the music event that represents Republican, conspiracy theory America at it’s best…..

    Dumb asses.

  4. Oatmeal says:

    I’m not suprised, given that genre of music’s fan base

  5. Oatmeal says:

    Lmaooooo, I forgot about Miranda and her K-Fed

  6. Ariel says:

    This makes me angry.
    Just, angry at the stupidity.
    They could have modeled a good example for their fans.
    This could have changed the mind of one of those idiots who somehow still believes 250,000 US deaths later, that this is all some weird hoax.
    And they chose to instead cause more death.

    • Kate says:

      The pictures of them 3″ away from each other halfway holding up those stupid plastic shields like they’re at a g*d@m masquerade party enrages me.

      • Alarmjaguar says:

        Also, really, plastic shields? Just ask people to wear a damn mask. Those aren’t going to do anything but end up in a landfill for thousands of years.

  7. Darla says:

    Okay but, who told her she looked good in that dress?

    • Jennifer says:

      Are shoulder pads a thing again?

    • Riley says:

      You took the words right out of my mouth!

    • wildwaffles says:

      They look like a homecoming couple from 1987.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      and with that face?

      sorry, that was mean, but…did she do something to her face, surgery wise? she looks different, and not in good way. that top pic of her and the cop in front of the stage?…her face looks “smushed”. it’s weird.

      and I agree that dress is terrible. the shoes, too.

      • julia says:

        I hate to say it, but that was my first thought as well. What did she do?? She looks like an 80 year old pumped full of botox and fillers.

    • Golly Gee says:

      Yeah, but it matches his tie, so it’s all good.

  8. lucy2 says:

    That’s horrible.
    Look at what our healthcare workers are going through right now. For their sake, wear a damn mask, social distance, and stay home!

    • ME says:

      Nope. Instead people want to bang pots and pans to let the healthcare workers feel appreciated when really what people need to do is stay the f*ck home as much as possible. For the love of God stop having parties and get togethers ! If you want to thank the healthcare workers, then please do the one thing they are asking for !

      • paranormalgirl says:

        Absolutely. Right now, I would rather people keep their asses home, wear the damned mask, and socially distance than get any accolades, new sneakers, or a 7 pm pan bang (not that I don’t appreciate the show of support, because I very much do.). As a health care professional, I want to kick COVID to the curb more than anything else.

      • Anna says:

        This!!! @ME

  9. Yup, Me says:

    And they shall reap what they sow.

    Also known as “It is what it is”.

    • HoofRat says:

      Problem is, everyone else reaps what they sow as well. Harkening back to Monty Python, I would say the organizers and attendees at this event define the phrase “blinkered Philistine pig-ignorance.” With a hefty dose of psychopathic arrogance.

  10. Sharon Clark says:

    Lol, who is that woman with Miranda in the last pic at the bottom? Some sort of Selena Gomez/Sofia Vergara hybrid?

  11. Tiffany says:

    She and Whatshisteeth are still together.

    2020, man.

  12. Mrs. Peel says:

    A bunch of Trump supporters these C&W folks are – they deserve everything they get from this super-spreader event.

  13. Jennifer says:

    Yes, because these brain trusts can’t go a year without a self-aggrandizing silly awards show. I feel bad for the workers on the show who actually need the job and income to survive. I’m sorry they have to be around so many stupid and selfish people in order to do so. Even in stores those who have to put up with the S&S ones at least have a ratio that do wear masks and try to distance appropriately.

  14. SJ Knows says:

    What is it going to take for some tone deaf idiots to finally understand we are in a deadly pandemic?
    F the entire bunch of fools.
    I am angry every damn day with those who act to endanger my childs’ life!
    My daughter has serious, chronic health problems which in a typical flu season cause her to be frequently hospitalized thru out her life.
    Ever spent 26 days next to your only child in ICU?
    Childrens hospitals are a separate level of heartbreak, tiny little humans fighting for another day of life and their families begging God, sometimes for weeks at a time. Yes, this is my life for the past 22 years, repeatedly.

    Every.Single.Person who refuses to follow the CDC guidelines is a jackass!

    • Lizzie says:

      Sadly I think it will take having a heart attack or stroke then finding no beds available in the hospital. They are supremely selfish and it has to affect them personally. There have been countless incidents of people who believed it was all a hoax and became horribly ill then positing on fb with pleas wear masks.

      • Cassie says:

        Ugh you’re so right. I’m really curious the psychology behind those who throw themselves into conspiracy theories. I certainly hope once we have a vaccine that other countries bar travel for US citizens who refuse to get it.

    • anniefannie says:

      @SJ, I’m so terribly sorry! There’s nothing worse than to watch your child suffer except then adding on the uncertainty of outcomes. To have to watch these self aggrandizing morons take their health for granted while putting others at risk must truly make you furious.
      I wish the very best health for your child and peace for you…

    • Anna says:

      @SJ Knows Agree with every word and sending you so much love and strength for what you and your child and family are going through.

  15. T says:

    And why did the city allow the event to take place? A quick google search states masks are required in Nashville in indoor and outdoor locations. Just disgusting. Everyone should be fined. And after contact tracing leads to a death, I hope the surviving family sues the city and every single loser who attended for wrongful death. Because obviously decency and intelligence doesn’t matter….so hit them where it apparently matters to them – their wallets.

  16. Jess says:

    Good god, incredibly selfish and dumb, and they’ll be filling up urgent cares this week wrapping lines around the building to get tested. Just as they have for months now.

    My coworker is still in the hospital fighting covid and struggling to keep her oxygen above 88, because selfish idiots like this think it’s a good idea to be attention whores and get pats on the back during a fkng pandemic.

  17. Kristen says:

    I feel bad for anyone who had to work at this event, all of whom (based on the photos) seem to be wearing masks. The celebrities are risking people’s lives so they can get their pictures taken. Gross.

  18. LittlePenguin says:

    I was flipping channels last night and hoped it was just Reba with that stupid shield and no mask.
    Why?!? Why was this awards show so important they couldn’t follow rules? I feel so bad for anyone who had to work this.
    How many of these people got on a plane today and have been exposed and now spread it to unsuspecting people?

  19. Marigold says:

    I enjoy a lot old country and some new. I love Kacey Musgraves. However some of the people I used to follow are ardent republicans. So much so that they were actually flying a Trump flag and being rude to followers. Brittany Aldean was the main one. I ended up unfollowing her. She was also carrying on about her husband her husband not being able to have concerts, but the Democrats could celebrate. So much white privilege. I unfollowed her and her husband. And several other of that ilk of country.

    Also you should read the comments on The Boot and other country pages. Trumpers galore saying nasty, deplorable things.

  20. MM2 says:

    Can we not call The Band Formerly Known As Lady Antebellum “Lady A”? Cuz there was already a Lady A & they picked that taken name, but it doesn’t mean we have to use it.