56th Annual CMAs | Controversy and Nominees
“Co-hosts, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning”
The 56th Annual CMAs are this Wednesday, November 9. American Idol judge and CMA entertainer of the year, Luke Bryan and, former NFL player and University of Tennessee Alum, Peyton Manning will be hosting this years CMAs together. Lots of controversy has surrounded this years show due to the political stur with Jason Aldean and his wife, as well as the backlash against Morgan Wallen.
Questions have been spiraling around whether or not Jason Aldean will be performing or attending the 2022 CMAs. His wife, Brittany Aldean, posted a controversial post on Instagram a couple of months ago that came across “transphobic” and “insensitive”. Since then, Jason and his wife have received lots of public backlash and therefore, according to the Rolling Stone, he will not be attending this year. Another artist who has been up for question about attendance is Morgan Wallen. Recently he has cleared up all hate and controversy supporting his name in the media. In early 2021, Wallen was caught on video saying a racial slur and had gone through a lot of backlash and hate since. Although, this year he has rebranded his name and has been a leading artist on all platforms. Junior, Shane Siwik expresses how Wallen’s popularity should automatically award him an invite this year, “Morgan wallen should go because he is very popular artist and is very liked.” He was uninvited last year, but as of now he is invited and is up for three awards.
In contrast to all of the controversy surrounding various artists this year, many great names are up for awards and so much is to look forward to. A nice surprise is that one of the most famous artists of this era, Taylor Swift, is up for an award because of her song with Chris Stapleton, “I bet you think about me (Taylor’s Version)”. That alone will attract more viewers than before because of her connections to pop and folk music genres. However, her attendance has not yet been confirmed. More to look forward to, there are many new emerging artists who have earned nominations this year. Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Cody Johnson, Parker McCollum, and Walker Hayes will all be attending this year and have all earned nominations due to their popular hits in 2022. All of those performers have received nothing but great reviews in the media.
The CMAs are streaming on the ABC channel as well as YouTube, so make sure to tune in!