Lainey Wilson Tears up as She Accepts CMA Awards' Entertainer of the Year Honor
Wilson took home a total of six CMA awards on Wednesday night.
The Speech
During her speech, Wilson spoke about her "lucky number" nine. "That's how many times we were nominated for the CMAs this year," she explained. "But it's also the year that I wrote my first song.
prevnext"Awesome Finish"
Great show tonight with a totally awesome finish.
— Griff (@WSG35437578) November 9, 2023
Wilson continued, "It's the year that I got my first pair of bell bottoms. It's the year that my mom and daddy brought me to Nashville for the very first time and took me to the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. It's the year that my mom and daddy brought home this horse named Tex and the horse was, it was wild and it needed breaking and they put me on the back of that thing and they said 'You better hold on, you better ride.'"
prevnext"Congratulations"
You knocked it out of the ballpark last night! Loved your performance 🎉. Congratulations on Entertainer of the Year👏👏
— Jacque McCoy. IOM (@brandt2dance) November 9, 2023
The singer went on to say, "And I tell you what, there were times where I was crying and I wanted to get down, I'm like, 'Let me off the back of this thing.' But y'all, every time it would start bucking, I'd hold on a little bit tighter." Wilson then said she believes her horse "prepared me for this ride, because it is wild."
prevnext"Deserve It"
Congratulations you deserve it!
— suzette nibblett 🙏 (@SuzetteNibblett) November 9, 2023
Concluding her speech, Wilson said, "And thank y'all for letting me be me and thank y'all for, for giving me this opportunity. Thank you Jesus. Thank you. Thank you every single person on my team. I love y'all. I love you Duck. Do love you Mom and Daddy, Jane, the boys, God bless you."
prevnext"So Happy"
Congratulations Lainey!!! I'm so happy for you, so well deserved!!🥰❤️
— Melissa McKenzie (@LukeBryanfan86) November 9, 2023
Over on Youtube, many of Wilson's fans have showered praise on her big win. "I'm so happy that a female Country artist Finally won this big award," one person wrote. "Congrats to Lainey Wilson I'm so proud of her."
prevnextCritics
Taylor swift was the last female artist to win entertainer of the year in 2011. Is that why Lainey won? Bc she opened up for Luke Combs, this award was prematurely given to her….
— Deanna (@Lildee_42) November 9, 2023
Notably, while many people have been supportive of Wilson's win, others have taken to social media to criticize the CMAs for her win over the other artists who were nominated for Entertainer of the Year.
prevnext"Opening Act"
An opening act won entertainer of the year. Everyone else in this category deserved it more than she did, and have been around way longer.
— Jonathan🦃 (@jonathan_ducote) November 9, 2023
"So you never give the award to [Carrie Underwood]," one person tweeted, "yet you'll give it to a new artist who is still an opening act?"
prevnext"Ridiculous"
Lainey's great. But this is absurd. If the Association isn't going to evaluate these categories with a reasonable metric, and instead just vote based on their own preferred narrative, then the show is simply not watchable.
— Alex Neumann (@Alexcneumann) November 9, 2023
"I'm sorry but these awards are ridiculous," one other viewer added. "Lainey literally opened for Morgan Wallen. She is great. I agree, but he should've won this award. He didn't win anything which is absolutely ridiculous. The award shows are absolute crap."
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