Why Luke Bryan's CMA Opening Has Carrie Underwood Fans Fuming

Talk about a poker face ... or not. At the Country Music Association Awards held on November 10, country music star Carrie Underwood may have let her emotions get the best of her.

Hosting the award show for the night, Luke Bryan opened with a short monologue in which he discussed — and joked about — how this year's CMAs looks much different than the last. This year, per the Tennessean, the CMA Awards returned to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena after having a smaller, audience-free ceremony in 2020. Taking the stage at the beginning of the show, Bryan made sure to get plenty of jokes in. "Tonight is all about the music and the dreamers. However, I know it's definitely not all about the nominations, 'cause I really don't have any. It's fine, I'm not bitter. Nope, I'm not," he said (via YouTube). However, one of the next jokes in his monologue didn't seem to go over too well with at least one person in the audience — former "American Idol" winner Underwood.

Luke Bryan wanted to be sure that everyone in the arena knew that safety was a top priority at the CMAs. "Rest assured, we're following all the health protocols to keep everyone safe. And it is so great to be here with all my fellow artists, tested and together," he said (via YouTube) in his monologue before joking, "Or immunized?" Bryan looked around the crowd, pointing his finger. "Who is it?" he asked, before adding, "just playing." The cameras quickly panned to Carrie Underwood, who gave a sharp side-eye.

It seems as though Underwood may have reacted that way because the joke was a dig at Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who lied about getting vaccinated. On November 6, Underwood's husband, Mike Fisher, took to Instagram to show his support for Rodgers. In early November, Rodgers revealed he was not vaccinated for COVID-19 after contracting the virus, but stated he was "immunized" back in August. By the look of Underwood's side-eye, she certainly wasn't happy Bryan made an indirect joke at her husband during the awards — and neither were her fans. One user wrote on Twitter, "Did they really cut to Carrie Underwood when Luke brought up Covid vaccines? Lol." To which another user added, "Dang Carrie Underwood did not like that immunized joke." 

Although Carrie Underwood has not spoken out about her stance on the COVID-19 vaccine, it appears as though she supports her husband's take on it — at least, on some level. According to E! News, Underwood "liked" Mike Fisher's post about Aaron Rodgers — and against vaccine mandates. "I stand with [Aaron Rodgers]. I believe in the freedom to choose what we put in our bodies and the freedom of conscience. I agree with him in that the science clearly shows the vaccinated spread covid at basically the same rate as the unvaccinated," the former Nashville Predators player captioned an Instagram post. He went on to say that major league sports leagues should offer "daily testing for all" in lieu of vaccine mandates. Fisher explained that he feels as though the government doesn't care about the health and well-being of U.S. citizens, but that "it's about control over our lives."

"I won't stand for that. It's time to fight for our medical freedom and I feel for those that have been fired for choosing medical freedom. People losing their jobs over a medical choice is un-American and unacceptable," Fisher's Instagram caption continued. Given the current political climate, it's not surprising that Fisher's post found itself in the headlines.

Carrie Underwood tends to keep her feelings on various political matters to herself, and has never come forward to support a particular political candidate. In fact, back in 2008, she took a stand against celebrities who choose to share that information with their fans. "There is someone I do support, but I don't support publicly. I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate," she said, according to the New York Daily News.

And while Underwood doesn't typically mesh politics with her career, she has spoken out about causes that are important to her. In 2012, for example, she expressed support for the LGBTQ community. "As a married person myself, I don't know what it's like to be told I can't marry somebody I love and want to marry. I can't imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love," Underwood told the Independent, according to Us Weekly. The outlet reported that Underwood was a registered Republican at the time.