Billy Ray Cyrus was shocked that Beyoncé was snubbed at this year’s CMA Awards despite her debut country album, “Cowboy Carter,” being a hit.
After the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer congratulated this year’s nominees, he went on to react to the pop star’s snub.
“I was surprised to see @beyonce wasn’t nominated??? Her album was brilliant… her single ruled. But she knows that,” Cyrus captioned an Instagram post Wednesday.
Despite his astonishment, he went on to explain that he doesn’t think Beyoncé needs the nomination.
“She doesn’t need a trophy from the CMA… or permission …. or approval from any of their judges,” the 63-year-old wrote.
Cyrus concluded the post by quoting the late boxer Muhammad Ali.
“When ya knock em out…. Ya don’t need no judge,” he wrote.
Earlier in the post, Cyrus said he was “proud to see country music opening their doors and format to be inclusive to all people, all styles.”
Beyoncé, 43, released her country record “Cowboy Carter” in March, which was the first album she released outside of her typical pop genre.
Many celebrities reacted to the Country Music Association’s snub of the “Break My Soul” singer when they announced the nominees on Sept. 9.
Country singer Luke Bryan addressed the snub during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Andy Cohen Live” on Oct. 1.
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“Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about it. But where things get a little tricky … if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit,” he said.
“Beyoncé can do exactly what she wants to. She’s probably the biggest star in music.”
Many of Beyoncé’s fans also took to social media at the time calling the snub “racist.”
“there’s just no f–king way that bey and cowboy carter got completely ignored at the cmas but f–kass post malone got 4 nominations… this is just racism and there’s no other word for it bc cowboy carter is one of the biggest albums of the year and it literally put country on the spotlight again this year,” one upset fan wrote.
“Anyone with common sense knew the CMAs were gonna pay Bey dust. They do not like her. They are NOT going to honor an album that was sparked from their racist treatment towards her,” another wrote.
Despite the outrage, not everyone believed it was a snub with “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg defending the CMAs in September.
“I don’t think she was snubbed, I think they just didn’t… it wasn’t for them,” she said.
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