Clapping back! As Mickey Guyton prepares for her Super Bowl singing debut, she has been met with criticism about her casting choice. Now, she’s responding to the online messages.
“This is what I see in my mentions on a daily basis. It never stops,” the “Black Like Me” songstress, 38, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, February 9. “But guess what. I will never stop.”
Guyton’s post included a screenshot, in which a social media user criticized her participation in the Super Bowl — where she is set to sing the National Anthem on Sunday, February 13.
“This is Mickey Guyton. Country music’s resident Black woman,” the social media comment read. “I just heard she was singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Why? Because she’s Black and she’s female. No other reason.”
The Instagram user alleged that Guyton is only known as “the Black woman in country music” rather than for any notable musical claim to fame, adding, “So, they’re gonna put her out there anytime they can.”
“This woman is either too f—king stupid to realize that she’s being f—king used as a prop or she’s playing along because she needs the money and it’s the only way she’s going to get it,” the social media participant claimed.
While the Texas native isn’t letting the social media critics get her down, several of her fellow country music peers have weighed in, sharing their support.
“Imagine being here just to write & make music that brings people joy and connection and you have THIS to contend with every. damn. day,” Maren Morris wrote via Instagram Story on Wednesday. “@mickeyguyton you are loved and playing the damn SUPER BOWL this week.”
The “Middle” singer, 31, added: “Thinking of my friends who are putting out so much good despite the daily barrage of abuse and death threats just for them existing and trying to paint their corner of the world prettier. Carry on.”
Guyton’s rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” will kick off Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, in which the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will play in the championship match for a chance to win the coveted Lombardi Trophy at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
“The national anthem is my song,” Guyton told The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, February 8. “The first time I sung it was at a basketball game when I was 13, and I kept my eyes closed the whole time. But then they asked me to sing at every game after that. … It’s so full circle. It’s really going to show people what I can do, and I hope a lot of fans are going to see me differently.”
She continued, teasing her performance to the outlet: “I’ve been working with a creative director because there is something very specific I want to come across. Our country has been so divided for so long and it’s been very hard to watch. I’m just trying to unite people.”