New Year’s Eve: Sam Hunt’s ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ Performance Brought out Critics Over His DUI Arrest

It may be 2020, but country singer Sam Hunt can’t seem to leave 2019 in the past. As the singer-songwriter took the stage with performances of his latest single, “Kinkfolk,” and his hit “Body Like A Backroad” at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest, viewers flocked to social media to criticize him over his November DUI arrest in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Sam Hunt should be lecturing people on his experience on drinking and driving instead of singing for the NYE bash as a way to remind people to NOT DRINK AND DRIVE,” tweeted one viewer.

“Sam Hunt is performing in Times Square & all I can think is this dude had a DUI just a few weeks ago & now here he is on the biggest drinking night of the year,” wrote another. “Hope he figured out how to work Uber….”

“‘Don’t drink & drive on New Years’ But let’s allow Sam Hunt who just got a DUI perform the NYC New Years show,” added a third viewer.

“[I don’t know] about you but Sam Hunt singing ‘Body Like a Backroad’ on one of the biggest drinking holidays of the year is a little more bitter than sweet when you remember he just got a DUI a little over a month ago,” tweeted another.

The Tuesday night performance marked Hunt’s first national TV appearance since his DUI arrest in late November. According to reports, Hunt was arrested during the early morning hours of Nov. 21 and charged with driving under the influence and having an open container after police received multiple calls about someone traveling the wrong way on a road in East Nashville. When officers initiated a traffic stop, the singer attempted to give police officers his credit card and passport when asked for his driver’s license and a subsequent blood alcohol test showed he had a blood alcohol content of .173, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

Hunt was booked into the Metro jail around 6:30 a.m. and was later released around 9 a.m. on a $2,500 bond. A day later, he released a statement on Twitter, admitting that he made a “poor and selfish decision.”

“Wednesday night I decided to drive myself home after drinking at a friend’s show in downtown Nashville,” he wrote. “It was a poor and selfish decision and I apologize to everyone who was unknowingly put at risk and let down by it. It won’t happen again.”

Hunt is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 17, 2020.