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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Entertainment
Nardine Saad

Kelsea Ballerini catches heat for ‘woke’ CMT Awards allyship with ‘Drag Race’ stars

Kelsea Ballerini CMT RuPaul CMT Awards Kennedy Davenport Manila Luzon CMT Music Awards GLAAD United States

Kelsea Ballerini drew heat and praise Sunday night after featuring all-star drag queens from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” during a colorful performance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.

The “Peter Pan” and “This Feeling” singer, who also co-hosted the fan-voted country-music awards show, sang her new ride-or-die best friend anthem “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” backed by a quartet of “Drag Race” stars — Manila Luzon, Kennedy Davenport, Jan Sport and Olivia Lux — dressed as glam midcentury housewives lounging on a lawn in front of a white picket fence.

The live performance made quite the statement amid a brewing debate over anti-LGBTQ legislation in Ballerini’s home state of Tennessee, the hub of country music, where some musicians have aligned themselves against laws limiting LGBTQ rights and legislators using hateful rhetoric about transgender people.

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