#GoWokeGoBroke trends on Twitter, but CMT Awards boast biggest audience ever
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The CMT Music Awards' first show in Austin saw record viewership, according to Variety.
The trade publication cited Paramount Global, who reported 5.43 million viewers watched the show on CBS and Paramount+. That's a 5% increase in viewership from 5.16 million viewers over last year's broadcast.
Column by Eric Webb: Keep Austin's LGBTQ culture alive. It will save lives.
Final numbers of total out-of-home viewing, like views on the streaming platform via a phone or other device unlike a TV, have yet to be announced, but the company estimates it could be as high as 5.68 million total same-day viewers.
Paramount also announced the show was the most-streamed program for their platform Sunday night, too.
Kelsea Ballerini performing with drag queens, speaking on Nashville shooting spurs critical response from Tomi Lahern
The numbers stand in contrast to several Twitter users who denounced the show after host Kelsea Ballerini addressed the Nashville school shooting during the show's opening and later performed her song "If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too)" with drag queens from the MTV show "RuPaul's Drag Race."
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Ballerini did not directly speak about transgender rights but thanked the drag queens and the show for "celebrating love, self-expression, and performance." When speaking about the Nashville school shooting, which left three adults and three children dead, she did not implicitly call for gun control but instead implored for "real action" to take place.
"I pray deeply that the closeness and the community that we feel through the next few hours of music can soon turn into action, like real action, that moves us forward together to create change for the safety of our kids and our loved ones," Ballerini said.
if you go down, i’m going down too 🏳️🌈 // thank you to these iconic queens and @manilaluzon @kennedyddoftx @janjanjan @TheOliviaLux and @CMT for celebrating love, self expression, and performance.
📸 John Shearer @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/jZ3JTVI3ny— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) April 3, 2023
On Twitter, commentator Tomi Lahren used the hashtag "#GoWokeGoBroke," for the show presenting the topics and accused the program of neglecting a fan base.
Last night @CMT used a “country music” award show to push gun control and drag queens. They have completely forgotten/ ignored their actual fan base. #GoWokeGoBroke
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) April 3, 2023
The hashtag was used in another critical tweet featuring video of Ballerini's CMT performance that received over a million views.
"Country Music, like Budweiser, has failed to recognize who their customers are," the tweet said.
More: RuPaul's Drag Race queens share message to Texas drag queens at CMT Music Awards red carpet
Calls to boycott Bud Light come as trans person featured in March Madness ad campaign
The hashtag carried additional weight on Twitter as users shared opinions about Bud Light partnering with a transgender person in an advertising campaign.
In videos posted to her Instagram page, Dylan Mulvaney drank the beer while talking about March Madness and showed a can with her face on it.
Some #GoWokeGoBroke tweets called for a boycott of the brand. But such suggestions appeared to have little impact on parent company Anheuser-Busch's stock, which has risen from $60 to $66/share on the New York Stock Exchange over the last two weeks.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: CMT 2023 Awards had drag queens, best ratings ever despite backlash
