Kelsea Ballerini responds to backlash over CMT Music Awards performance with Halsey: ‘Politely shut up’

Kelsea Ballerini hit back at haters for criticizing her performance with Halsey at the CMT Music Awards.

Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey rocked the CMT Music Awards this week with a Coyote Ugly-inspired performance of their song “The Other Girl.” And while the vocal powerhouses were received mostly with praise for their nostalgic, leather-clad duet, critics called out the song for not being “real” country music.

Ballerini had no time for the haters, taking to Instagram on Thursday (Oct. 22) to share a selfie with a fittingly blasé thumbs up. “After reading way too many comments, I’d like to remind people that there are different kinds of country music and none are more ‘real’ than others when it comes from an honest place,” she wrote, “that women can wear whatever we want and shouldn’t be called names and criticized for it, and that if you don’t have something nice to say, politely shut up.”

— FOX News