Kacey Musgraves’ political outbursts have drawn criticism from listeners threatening to abandon her music, with an August deportation dispute followed by fresh clashes this month. The country singer recently attacked Christopher Columbus during a Dallas concert and traded insults with Kristi Noem after hosting Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. The White House then used one of her songs in a video promoting ICE deportations. An earlier critic had already delivered a pointed response to her progressive stance: “I’m deporting Musgraves from all my music playlists.”
The boycott calls have followed Musgraves’ August 21st appearance at Chicago’s United Center, where she celebrated her 38th birthday while launching her “Middle of Nowhere” tour. During the concert, she directed fans toward the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. She described the organization as helping children whose parents had been deported “unfairly” and asked concertgoers to contribute money as a birthday gesture.
Musgraves told the audience that even a small contribution would be welcome, while giving attendees the option to decline. The Chicago-based organization had previously benefited from her partnership with clothing resale platform Depop, which offered pieces from her wardrobe for charity. Her concert appeal prompted criticism from OutKick host Tomi Lahren, who asked, “What is an unfair deportation?” Other responses included demands that she keep politics out of her performances.
Fox News reported the playlist boycott comment among the responses to that August appeal. Other critics threatened to withdraw their support and objected to a fundraising request during a paid concert. Musgraves’ October appearances subsequently brought additional political confrontations, including her decision to welcome Talarico to her October 10th Dallas show. The Democratic Senate nominee later thanked her publicly for hosting him.
During her second Dallas performance, on October 11th, Musgraves turned to the following day’s holiday. Audience members responded to her mention of Columbus Day by calling out Indigenous Peoples’ Day. She then cursed Columbus and called him “Literally the lamest person to probably ever exist. Like, for real. What a loser.” The remarks circulated online in video from the American Airlines Center performance.
Spencer Pratt responded by criticizing entertainers who disparage historical figures while enjoying the society those figures helped establish. His October 13th post accused Musgraves’ generation of judging earlier generations from a position of comfort. Other online critics objected specifically to her treatment of Columbus, with some describing the remarks as insulting to Italian Americans. Breitbart documented those responses alongside footage of the concert exchange.
Watch Musgraves’ Columbus remarks in the video shared here:
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https://t.co/CfH7pPZHII
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) October 13, 2026
Noem also entered the dispute after Musgraves hosted Talarico, publicly favoring Ella Langley over Musgraves and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton over Talarico. Musgraves responded on October 12th: “I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it.” The insult referenced Noem’s account of shooting her dog Cricket in her memoir. Noem had published that account in her 2024 book, “No Going Back.”
The White House subsequently used Musgraves’ song “Mexico Honey” to accompany a TikTok video highlighting immigration enforcement. The post showed deportation activity with her music playing over the footage. By October 15th, the video’s audio had been muted, according to Whiskey Riff. The outlet reported that responsibility for requesting the removal hadn’t been established.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.