Why Did The Country Music Awards Delete All Evidence Of Beyonce’s Performance?

Update: The CMAs have released an official statement via E! News explaining the deleted social post, which is below. It does not mention any tweets:

CMA has not erased any mentions of Beyonce’s performance on the CMA Awards. In advance of the broadcast, CMA removed a five-second promotional clip from ABC.com and CMA’s Facebook page. The promo was unapproved and CMA removed it prior to the broadcast. Beyonce’s performance with Dixie Chicks was a highlight of the evening and we are continuing to share the amazing full-length performance clip via our official social channels.

Full update below the original story.

Last night Beyonce performed a very country song off Lemonade at the Country Music Awards. Her “Daddy Lessons” had already been covered by the Dixie Chicks earlier in the year, so it made perfect sense to enlist that iconic Texan country trio for the performance, and release a free download of the new version immediately after. If anything Beyonce is always a savvy business woman.

Plus, the plenty of people seemed to love the entire thing — well, except Kenny Chesney — and it brought a ton of people who don’t normally watch the award show into the fold. Bringing a black woman in to perform at the show also made an important political statement in support of Beyonce’s “Formation,” and more, as the nation, and the genre of country music in particular, grapples with its past.

So that’s why it’s strange that the official account for the awards, @CountryMusic no longer has any tweets about the performance. There are also no Instagram post or other information about what was, for all intents and purposes, one of the biggest highlights of the night. She is not listed under the official performers page either, which could be because she was added as a surprise — if we’re being generous. However, it appears as though GIFs of the performance are still available on Giphy, though it’s unclear if the CMA controls that or if the site itself does.

DeRay Mckesson, who is one of the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement and brought attention to the matter through his tweet, spoke further with Uproxx on the decision.

“It is disappointing that instead of celebrating Beyonce’s immense talent and range exemplified by the performance of her country song “Daddy Lessons” at the CMA awards, the CMA Association has chosen to bow to pressure of a segment of its racist fans,” he said.

A brief glance through their feeds and website confirms this. Uproxx has reached out to the CMAs for comments on why the social posts and other information was removed. We will update when we have an official line of reasoning or statement from them.

Updates:
Following the backlash, the CMAs also reposted Beyonce’s Instagram of the song and posted another collage that includes Beyonce:

And tweeted the second Instagram:

Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks also posted some thoughts:
https://twitter.com/1NatalieMaines/status/794303040308191233
https://twitter.com/1NatalieMaines/status/794306834219704320
https://twitter.com/1NatalieMaines/status/794308700475297793

If you missed the performance, you can still check it out on the ABC app and On Demand here.