Maren Morris Claps Back at Fan Who Criticized Her for Calling out CMAs Following Charley Pride’s Death

Maren Morris has fired back at a commenter who called her out after her remarks following the tragic passing of country music icon Charley Pride. On Saturday, the music world lost one of its pioneers when it was revealed that Pride, the first Black country musician to make it big, had passed away due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 86.

Pride had just been in the spotlight after making a performance at November’s Country Music Awards alongside Jimmie Allen. This was brought to light by “The Bones” singer, who shared her thoughts about the potential impact performing at an indoor event could have had. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions because no family statement has been made, but if this was a result of the CMAs being indoors, we should all be outraged,” she wrote on Twitter. “Rest in power, Charley. F—k this f—king year.” Her suggestion that Pride contracted the coronavirus due to the awards show being held ticked off one particular user.

In response to her tweet, another account fired back. “Screw you [Maren Morris],” the response began. “How dare you even think about jumping to conclusions at a time like this!! You’ve lost a fan in me.” The 30-year-old didn’t seem too bothered by the strong reaction, however, as she calmly clapped back, “Love you!” She also added a waving emoji for good measure.

During what turned out to be his final performance, Pride took the CMA stage on Nov. 11 after being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was joined by the Delaware-born singer, Allen, as the two performed “Kiss an Angel Good Morning.” At the time of the CMAs being announced, many were concerned about it being held indoors, a concern that was once again raised by Morris. Fellow country star Mickey Guyton also responded to Morris’ tweet, saying, “We need answers to how Charley Pride got COVID.” In response to the issue being voiced after Pride’s passing, the Country Music Association put out a statement reiterating that proper safety protocols were followed at the event. The message noted that Pride had been tested ahead of the show and had his test come back negative. They also explained that after he went home to Texas that he was tested multiple times, with all of those results showing that he had no signs of COVID-19.