Country star Kacey Musgraves is facing boycott calls after asking concertgoers to donate to an organization that helps immigrant children whose parents, she claimed, had been deported “unfairly.” Musgraves made the appeal during the opening night of her new tour, insisting that the request was “not a political thing.” Her description of the deportations and decision to solicit money from paying fans quickly drew a fierce response from conservative commentators and other X users.
The controversy began Friday during the opening show of Musgraves’ “Middle of Nowhere” tour at the United Center in Chicago. The concert fell on the eight-time Grammy winner’s 38th birthday, and Musgraves told the audience that she wanted contributions to the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights as her birthday gift. The organization pairs volunteers with attorneys and social workers to advocate for unaccompanied and separated immigrant children in government custody.
“It’s a wonderful organization, and they help give aid — legal aid — and money to children whose parents have been deported unfairly,” Musgraves told the crowd. “It’s not a political thing. It’s just, these kids need help.” Her decision to characterize the deportations as “unfair” became the focal point of the backlash that followed.
“They have no guidance and no way to get through this thing without their home base or their parents,” Musgraves continued, according to the New York Post. “So anyway, 50 cents, whatever the hell, I don’t know, whatever you want to do, but that would mean a lot to me.” She added, “If you don’t want to, that’s totally fine too.”
Musgraves’ appeal received cheers inside the Chicago arena, but the reception online was far less supportive. OutKick host Tomi Lahren responded to the footage with a pointed question: “What is an unfair deportation?” Conservative commentator Vince Langman criticized Musgraves for focusing on deported migrants while ignoring American families who have lost relatives to crimes committed by illegal aliens, asking, “What happened to the country music industry?”
One verified X user posted a picture of Musgraves and wrote, “One more woke Country artist to ignore…” Another user then replied, “I am sure all the illegals listen to her music. lolololol so here we have another who got rich from US and now she is against us. OK. I hope nobody spends their money on this American traitor.”
See Musgraves’ controversial comments Here:
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Other critics explicitly promised to stop supporting Musgraves’ music and concerts. “You just earned yourself a big ol’ boycott, you traitor,” one detractor wrote. “Illegal aliens and their kids don’t deserve our patronage and neither do you!” Another user announced, “I’m deporting Musgraves from all my music playlists.”
“Another TRAITOROUS woman who wants nothing more than to see our country fall,” another commenter wrote. A separate critic told Musgraves to “shut up and sing” and warned that bringing immigration politics into her concerts would alienate a large portion of her audience. Several people also questioned why a wealthy celebrity was asking fans, who had already purchased expensive concert tickets, to contribute more money.
One commenter claimed Musgraves was worth $15 million and said she should use her own fortune to finance the organization. “Kacey Musgraves is worth $15 million. Yet she’s asking fans who already paid $150 to $350 for tickets to donate to support the children of illegal aliens,” the commenter wrote.“If she cares that much, she can fund it herself and let them live in one of her multi-million-dollar mansions.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the linked video.