‘DWTS’ Favorite Bobby Bones Condemns Male-Dominated Country Lineup in Scathing Instagram Posts

Dancing With The Stars competitor Bobby Bones condemned the male-dominated lineup of Country Radio Seminar New Faces of Country Music Show, calling the selection process “broken.”

Bones shared a screenshot of the line-up showing only one female artist, Lindsay Ell, to his Instagram Story over the weekend.

“There are 13 acts up for ‘new faces’ and one woman. Just 1. This is just in the voting. Not even the final list,” Bones wrote. “Our industry is at times amazing. At other times (like this instance) full caveman mode. WFT.”

Bones continued, “Other men in the industry on different platforms have questioned my ‘over the top’ actions like creating a national show to promote only female artists. Even taken public shots at me. If I have to get even more obnoxious, I will. I’m more disappointed in a great format than I am pissed. But I am pissed too.”

“Don’t make me rent a venue and put on a concert with all females at the exact same time. [Because] that’s the kind of thing I’ll do,” he wrote. “And if I get the ‘there’s one 1 woman that qualified’ one more time… The reason only 1 qualified is because the system is broken. Be a part of the fix. Not part of the problem. Your rules aren’t the Constitution. SMH.”

Voting for the CRS 2019 New Faces of Country Music Dinner and Show starts on Thursday, and the final class is chosen by employees at country radio stations across the country. While last year’s group included two women in the final class, Ell is the only woman nominated among the 13 nominees.

“It was funny, because I posted the graphic [on Twitter] right when I got it, and fans responded right away and were like, ‘We can’t believe there’s only one female,’” Ell told The Boot this week. “CRS was right on top of things, and said that I was actually the only female who qualified this year. So I guess they have a list of requirements of what qualifies for New Faces, and I guess I was the only one who qualified who hasn’t done it in the past.”

Country music radio has long been criticized for giving female artists less radio play. Bones tried to remedy this by launching his Women of iHeartCountry show with co-host Amy Brown in September. The show only plays music by female artists.

“I’ll be really obnoxious about it and just cram it down the radio station,” Bones told The Tennessean earlier this year. “I’m just tired of it. I can take acts on the road. I can play the music. But people aren’t embracing things, and they are embracing other things too fast. They’re just not giving females a chance. I’m going to take a square peg and shove it into a round hole until it’s also round. It’s important for fairness. I want everybody to have an equal shot.”

Bones has reached the semi-finals on DWTS with pro partner Sharna Burgess. They will dance to Flo Rida’s “GDFR” and The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin.’” The episode starts at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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