Country music star Miranda Lambert found herself at the center of controversy during her recent Las Vegas show when she called out a group of fans for taking a photo while she was performing. The incident, caught on video and shared on TikTok, quickly went viral with over 1.4 million views and 181k likes on TikTok.
Miranda Lambert expressed her frustration, stating that the fans seemed more concerned about taking a selfie than listening to her music. Although audience members cheered Lambert on in the moment, the incident has since elicited harsh criticism from millions on social media.
The Heated Debate
Of course, fans should be respectful to an artist and other concertgoers during live performances, but artists must also treat fans with the same respect. After all, there would be no concert without ticket-purchasing fans. Rather than embarrass the “front row” fans – who clearly spent a lot of money to be so close to the stage – Lambert could have finished the song and addressed the issue by encouraging all attendees to be more present during the show.
Since the incident, many fans have expressed their disappointment with the country singer, with some even ripping up their concert tickets. To make matters worse, another video (captioned “the grinch of country music”) has surfaced that shows Lambert popping a beach ball that made its way to the stage at a previous show.
Lambert has yet to respond to the photo incident, which is surprising. If she wants to make amends with her fans, she should address the situation before it gets any worse. She should take a cue from our PR playbook, which underscores the importance of acknowledging an issue and taking quick action to respond.