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Reba and Other Country Stars Praised for Keeping Politics Out of ACM Awards Show
On Sunday night, country music stars gathered for the annual ACM Awards, and viewers praised host Reba McEntire for putting politics on the back burner.
McEntire’s opening monologue largely poked fun at herself, with jokes such as, “I first hosted this show in 1986. To put that in perspective, not only was [singer] Kelsea Ballerini not born, her parents weren’t even dating yet.”
Politics have largely dominated award shows, including the Country Music Awards, and many attendees believe they have an obligation, when given a platform, to advocate for their causes.
However, viewers seemed to enjoy the change of pace the ACM Awards offered and relished the break from politics.
Watching the ACM Awards tonight and not one mention about politics. Just good music. Way to go ACM. #ACMAWARDS. 851, 58 and 1
— Tom Griffey (@GriffeyTom) April 16, 2018
I don’t even like country music but I want to watch and support the ACM awards because NO POLITICS! 🙌
— Brye Ashley 🌸 (@BryeAshley) April 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/_katie_014/status/985671289380790274
Reba just said she was told not to discuss politics or anything, she said you do realize this is country music don't you. It's nice to see a show where the music is the thing instead of what celebrities think… #ACMawards
— Chuck Nellis (@ChuckNASCAR) April 16, 2018
Shout-Out to the #ACMawards for keeping politics out of their awards show! It's nice to escape our political differences for 3 hours! @CBS
— Bradley Stoltz (@bmoneymt) April 16, 2018
The decision to leave politics at home shouldn’t have been altogether surprising for viewers. Ahead of the show, McEntire explained to Us Weekly that it was going to be all about “fun.”
“There’s a lot of political things you can address, stuff going on in the world,” she said. “That’s not our theme; our theme is to have fun…”
The host added that the “theme” was “not to be mean, not to be catty, just to have a great night of entertainment, great music, seeing everybody and introducing new music.”
According to Programming Insider, the ACM awards garnered a rating of 7.3/12, which means that 7.3 percent of all TV-equipped households and 12 percent of all households watching TV at the time were tuned in to CBS.
In contrast, the Country Music Awards, which was televised live on ABC in November, only had a 3.2/12 rating, according to Deadline.
Watch the video below:
Now, McEntire’s lack of political digs didn’t mean she was devoid of taking a stand on behalf of female entertainers everywhere.
During her opening monologue, she noted that she’s following years of great male co-hosts such as Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, and Bryan and Blake Shelton.
“I guess they finally figured out that it only takes one woman to do the job of two men,” she explained, which warranted a standing ovation and a laugh from herself, even.
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Reynold Palmer
April 17, 2018 at 12:44 am
CF is being censored!
When I tried to share this is the message I got!
What is controversial about the CMA?
Warning: This Message Contains Blocked Content
Your message couldn’t be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive
SJCharlie
April 17, 2018 at 4:06 am
I was so glad to hear Reba’s message. I believe that everyone has the right to have an opinion on any topic it is just when others, including celebrities, carry it beyond politeness and go off the deep end on anything, it gets annoying and disrespectful to others. When celebrities, who have an open, one-way, microphone in their hands start telling everyone that doesn’t agree with them, how to run our lives, how to have a successful marriage, what to wear, that it’s okay to have children before marriage and think they are taking the high moral ground, I’ve had enough.
Most viewers want to be entertained and not preached to by know-nothings.
Inez
April 17, 2018 at 5:18 am
I thoroughly enjoyed this show. I had stopped watching ALL award shows because I didn’t like the celebrities forcing their political views and opinion “down my throat”.