ABC/Image Group LAChris Janson is facing backlash for his performance at Hwy 30 Music Fest this weekend.
Chris was one of the headliners at the festival in Filer, Idaho that ran from June 25-27. The “Buy Me a Boat” singer shared since-deleted footage on social media on Sunday of his performance at the festival. A Twitter user posted one of the videos that shows Chris playing to a crowd of people pressed up against the stage without following social distance guidelines or appearing to wear masks.
Chase Rice also came under fire for hosting a concert at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee on Saturday. Footage from that show features a crowd of hundreds of people also not wearing masks or social distancing. Kelsea Ballerini and Mickey Guyton are among the artists who’ve since called out Chase for potentially putting people at risk as COVID-19 cases continue to spike across the country.
Variety reports that there were roughly 2,800 people in attendance at Hwy 30 Fest, while Chase’s show drew around 1,000 people.
”I personally one saw one person wearing a mask the entire day, and that was a merch seller. Even vendors and staff were not wearing masks throughout the night,” a concert goer at Chris’ show says.
Additionally, a couple of hours after Maren Morris tweeted in response to video of Chase’s concert with the caption “no masks” and a sad face emoji, she shared a screenshot showing that Chris’ Twitter account had blocked her. “Ummmmmm what did I DO?!” she wrote, alongside three crying laughing emojis — to which Chris replied, “Omg!! I have no idea. Love you & your hubad. Definitely was a mistake.”
As of early Monday afternoon, Chris hasn’t responded publicly to the backlash about his performance.
By Cillea Houghton
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