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I tend to think that country music is littered with arrogant MAGA dude-bros, but that’s a sh-tty stereotype on my part. Country music’s biggest personalities are more dynamic than that, and in Trump’s America, I suspect that even the most famous red-state celebrities are feeling a bit queasy about any or all of the GOP’s agenda. This week, the Country Music Association announced new board members for their charitable foundation. One of the new board members was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the same dude who caped for a child molester named Josh Duggar, and then freaked the f–k out because a black woman (Beyonce) sang about f–king her husband and how she’s proud to be black. Huckabee also hates gay people and trans people and wants them all to have zero rights in America. In many ways, Huckabee is an example of a more “moderate” force in the current GOP. But country music stars still didn’t want him near their CMA foundation.

On Wednesday, the Country Music Association announced the newest members of the board of its charitable foundation: singer Chris Young and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R). The announcement of the latter immediately raised eyebrows in Nashville, because the CMA actively tries to stay out of politics — and some in the industry protested because of his political views. Then, about 24 hours after the announcement, Huckabee resigned.

“The CMA Foundation has accepted former Governor Mike Huckabee’s resignation from its Board of Directors, effective immediately,” a CMA spokeswoman said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

The harshest public condemnation came from manager Jason Owen, who called Huckabee’s appointment “grossly offensive” and “a detrimentally poor choice by CMA and its leaders.” Owen’s management company, Sandbox, represents country music stars such as Faith Hill, Kacey Musgraves and Little Big Town, currently featured on the front page of the CMA Foundation’s web site. He also co-owns the label Monument Records, a division of Sony Music, with high-profile songwriter-producer Shane McAnally.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must let you know moving forward, Sandbox and Monument will no longer support the CMA Foundation in any way (this includes everyone we represent collectively) considering the heartbreaking news shared today regarding Mike Huckabee appointee/elected to the CMA Foundation,” he wrote in a letter to CMA chief executive Sarah Trahern and Director of Community Outreach Tiffany Kerns. “Further, we find it hard to support the organization as a whole as a result.”

Owen, who is openly gay, continued: “I have a child and two on the way. This man has made it clear that my family is not welcome in his America. And the CMA has opened their arms to him, making him feel welcome and relevant. Huckabee speaks of the sort of things that would suggest my family is morally beneath his and uses language that has a profoundly negative impact upon young people all across this country. Not to mention how harmful and damaging his deep involvement with the NRA is. What a shameful choice. I will not participate in any organization that elevates people like this to positions that amplify their sick voices.”

[From The Washington Post]

WaPo goes on to say that on several country-music-industry sites, the Huckabee appointment had gone over like a lead balloon, mostly because the Country Music Association and the foundation are both supposed to be apolitical (as in, there would be anger if Bill Clinton was appointed too). But, Hits Daily Double wrote that “There’s great concern and protest over [Huckabee’s] appointment, and rightfully so. Many in Nashville are sharing feelings of embarrassment for our country and industry.” Interesting. I find Jason Owen’s work here commendable, and I had no idea that he was such a behind-the-scenes power player in country-music management and agency. The CMA should have known better to even appoint Huckabee, but I’m glad that this was the outcome – that Huckabee was publicly called out for his deplorable beliefs, and that he had to resign amid a wave of criticism. Petty justice.

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