Miranda Lambert Sparks Debate After Stopping Concert to Call Out Selfie-Takers
Miranda Lambert has sparked an online debate after the country singer stopped a concert to call out fans taking a selfie and chastise them for not “listening to the song.”
In a viral TikTok video, Lambert is filmed performing her ballad Tin Man at her Las Vegas residency show at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino at Zappos Theater this weekend.
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In the clip, Lambert suddenly stops singing in the middle of her ballad. She then takes aim at a group of selfie-taking fans in the concert crowd and admonishes them for taking photographs of themselves.
“I’m gonna stop right here for a second. I’m sorry,” Lambert tells the audience.
“These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song. It’s p*ssing me off a bit.
“Sorry, I don’t like it at all. We’re here to hear some country music tonight. I’m singing some country music.”
The country singer then gestures at the selfie-takers to put their phones away.
“Shall we start again?” Lambert asks the audience before re-starting the song as the crowd cheers.
‘We Were Just Grown Women Trying to Take a Picture’
The TikTok video has amassed over 3.1 million views in three days. And while the Las Vegas audience cheered in support of the country singer, one of the women who was called out by Lambert told NBC News that she was “appalled” by the star’s behavior.
Influencer Adela Calin said that she and her friends were seated very close to the stage at Lambert’s show. They tried to take a few group shots before the show started but the lighting was not good for a photo.
So Calin asked the woman behind them to take a photo of her and her friends towards the end of the concert.
“It was 30 seconds at most. We took the picture quickly and were going to sit back down,” Calin tells NBC News.
“It felt like I was back at school with the teacher scolding me for doing something wrong and telling me to sit down back in my place… I feel like she was determined to make us look like we were young, immature, and vain.
“But we were just grown women in our 30s to 60s trying to take a picture.”
However, Calin also noted that Lambert’s reaction may have been affected by the heightened sensitivity around smartphones at concerts — after several singers such as Harry Styles and Drake have been hit by objects thrown at them on stage.
‘I Can Take Selfies and Still Listen To a Song’
There was also a heated debate about the video among TikTok users — with many viewers appearing to think that Lambert’s reaction to paying concert-goers was harsh.
“Wow. They were probably just excited about being there and trying to make memories,” one individual comments.
Another argues: “I can take selfies and still listen to a song.”
Meanwhile, another viewer understood Lambert’s feelings but said the country singer could have taken a different approach to the situation.
“She could have finished her song and just said some blanket statement like ‘let’s try to be in the moment and stay off our phones’ if she felt like that,” the TikTok user writes.
A spokesperson for Lambert told Billboard said the singer had no comment at press time.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
