When Garth Brooks announced he was removing himself from the Entertainer of the Year category, the reaction on social media was immediate, including from some of Garth’s famous friends, as well as his own wife, Trisha Yearwood!
It all began when Steve Wariner shared his thoughts about Garth’s news on Twitter, which Blake Shelton quickly retweeted.
“If you’ve ever seen Garth Brooks live, you know why he consistently wins entertainer of the year. There is no one as big as Garth, but more importantly there is no one as kind,” Steve posted. “I have been fortunate enough to call Garth a close friend for years, and I know who he is off stage as well; one of the kindest people on the entire planet. Garth; you are not just entertainer of the year, you are a legend forever, and you really earned it. This is a shame!”
If you’ve ever seen @garthbrooks live, you know why he consistently wins entertainer of the year. There is no one as big as Garth, but more importantly there is no one as kind. pic.twitter.com/qGYF29YkoY
— Steve Wariner (@stevewariner) July 29, 2020
Blake retweeted Steve’s statement, saying, “Agreed Steve…. He is Garth Brooks. GARTH BROOKS!!! I don’t give a sh– what anyone says. ANYONE. Entertainer of the century.”
Trisha retweeted Blake’s comment, saying, “I love you boys!! … Thanks for always having my cowboy’s back!”
Garth announced in a virtual press conference, shared on his Facebook page, that after seven times winning the Entertainer of the Year CMA Award, including last year, that he no longer wanted to be included in the list of nominees.
“There’s one tweet in there that really stuck in my head,” Garth said during the press conference. “It said, ‘Hey, man. This guy, why doesn’t he just step down and leave the entertainer for the next generation?’ 100% agree … With all the love in the world, we are officially pulling ourselves out of Entertainer of the Year.’”
After last year’s somewhat controversial win, when Carrie Underwood was expected to win, Garth said he felt like it was the right time to withdraw his name.
“My number is seven,” Garth explained. “We feel very lucky with seven. And it’s time for somebody else to hold that award, know what that entertainer feels like, because they’re all out there busting their butts.”
Garth originally asked the Country Music Association to leave his name off the list of nominees, which they declined.
“The CMA came back and said, ‘It’s not our call. We cannot pull you out of our awards,’” Garth said. “So today we sit here and humbly ask with all the gratefulness and love in the world, we are going to do it ourselves. We’re going to pull ourselves out of Entertainer of the Year.”
Photo Credit: Derrek Kupish / dkupish productions