This week, nestled between the “Red Wave” that never was and the Mar-a-Lago wedding that might never be, was country music’s self-proclaimed “biggest night:” The Country Music Awards.
The looks were underwhelming, the performances fine, and the politics—despite the number of controversies swirling the industry for the last few months—were non-existent.
Katy Perry and Thomas Rhett performed their duet, “Where We Started.” Luke Bryan, who co-hosted with Peyton Manning and has been trying to defend his dumb decision to bring Ron DeSantis on stage during a recent concert, avoided joking about the situation, beyond Manning saying that he and Carrie Underwood are “both worried about what Luke Bryan might say tonight.” Spoiler: He said nothing about the controversy and also nothing funny, interesting, or worth including a YouTube link.
Maren Morris also skipped the red carpet after saying in September she might skip the show due to her ongoing feud with Jason and Brittany Aldean, in which she called Brittany “Insurrection Barbie” for having made harmful, transphobic comments. Morris did show up just in time for the Album of the Year announcement, gave winner Luke Combs a standing ovation, and then left.
So that’s that! Here are the looks.