A Fox News panel labeled country music as “too woke” as the genre increasingly seems to defy the values of its base of listeners.  The commentary was prompted by far-left singer Marren Morris previously announcing she would be leaving country music because of the “toxicity” among conservative listeners that was supposedly brought in during the Trump administration.

For context, Morris had slammed her own genre for the atmosphere it created from her perspective during “the Trump years.”  The singer claimed, “After the Trump years, people’s biases were on full display.  It just revealed who people really were and that they were proud to be misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic.  All these things were being celebrated, and it was weirdly dovetailing with this hyper-masculine branch of country music. I call it butt rock.”

A panel on Fox News’ the “Big Weekend Show” used Morris’s critical remarks about the mostly conservative genre, to initiate a broader conversation about the state of country music.  As country music has become increasingly corporatized it has began to look like the rest of the woke entertainment industry which runs diametrically opposed to conservative values.

Co-host Lisa Boothe suggested that the popular genre has become “too woke now.” She opined during the segment, “I think this is another example of the disconnect between the people in charge and, you know, the people at home, right? The everyday men and women, because country music, I think country music is too woke now.”

Substantiating her comment, Boothe gave several examples shown by the Country Music Television awards.  “I mean, you can look at the 2021 awards. Rolling Stone was talking about the five ways it was woke. 2023 CMT awards, Kelsey ballerina with a bunch of drag queens. CMT pull Jason Aldean’s music video, right? So country music is woke, but the fans aren’t woke,” she continued.

Morris has also faced backlash for other comments about conservatism in country music.  In light of a series of critically acclaimed, chart-topping conservative-themed country songs being released over the past couple of years, such as Jason Aldean’s smash hit “Try That in a Small Town,” Morris claimed they were being listened to “out of spite,” dismissing that the music might actually resonate with some listeners.

“People are streaming these songs out of spite,” Morris said, talking about conservative-themed country music. “It’s not out of true joy or love of the music. It’s to own the libs. And that’s so not what music is intended for. Music is supposed to be the voice of the oppressed — the actual oppressed. And now it’s being used as this really toxic weapon in culture wars.”

Watch the panel below:

The Fox panel commented on Morris’ criticism of “Try That in a Small Town,” stating, “I just love the fact that she thinks that try that in a small town, Jason Aldean, with the number one skyrocket up there that people just streamed it out of spite, is what she said, that would have resonated with people for a reason. They like the song.”