Tucker Carlson needs some ice for Maren Morris’ GLAAD Awards burn: ‘I would never insult the recently unemployed’
Maren Morris had some choice words for former Fox News host Tucker Carlson at the GLAAD Media Awards. (Getty)
The 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards saw big wins for Netflix’s Heartstopper and gay rom-com Fire Island, but it was country singer Maren Morris who stole the show with some choice words for former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The star-studded second GLAAD Media Awards event of 2023 took place at the Hilton Midtown in New York City on Saturday (13 May), hosted by What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén and featuring a special performance from Idina Menzel.
Netflix’s beloved Heartstopper, based on the graphic novels by British author Alice Oseman, took home the award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming (Live Action), while Fire Island and trans coming-of-age story Anything’s Possible tied for Outstanding Film – Streaming/TV.
Outstanding Broadway Production went to the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop and We’re Here, the reality show We’re Here featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangel, took Reality Series.
Frozen star Menzel kicked the evening off with a stunning performance of “Defying Gravity”, which switched into her pop disco track “Move” from the upcoming album Drama Queen, which will be released on 18 August.
Country pop artist and iconic LGBTQ+ ally Maren Morris won the Excellence in Media award and in her speech, the “The Bones” singer-songwriter did not hold back.
She took aim at conservative commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who mocked Morris last year for standing up for trans rights, calling her “a lunatic” and a “fake country music singer”.
Morris was undeterred, transforming Carlson’s insults into a t-shirt sold to raise funds for trans charities – raising a whopping $150,000 (approximately £120,000).
Her “lunatic country music person” design, which includes the phone number of the Peer Support & Crisis Hotline for trans youth (877-565-8860), went on sale in September 2022, with proceeds split betweenTransLifeline and the GLAAD Transgender Media Program.
Morris said: “Maybe I felt a little badass taking Tucker Carlson’s calling me a lunatic for standing up to transphobia [and] turning it into a t-shirt and raising $150,000 for LGBTQ+ charities.
“That made me feel a little cool, but I don’t wanna gloat. I would never insult the recently unemployed.”
Carlson and Fox News parted ways on 24 April, just days after the channel settled a multi-million-dollar defamation lawsuit.
Can someone get Tucker Carlson a bucket of ice for that burn?
Queer Eye‘s Jonathan Van Ness received the Vito Russo Award, named after a founding member of GLAAD.
Trans lawmakers Zooey Zephyr and Mauree Turner, state representatives for Montana and Oklahoma respectively, were also in attendance, after recent attempts to target and silence them.
“I am the culmination of the things bigots hate the most: a queer Black non-binary Muslim elected official,” Turner said. “What they say is: you don’t get access to the same Oklahoma as the rest of us because I don’t like you.
“And what I say is: leave your homegrown bigotry at home.”
Zephyr, who recently proposed to girlfriend Erin Reed, a journalist and activist, introduced the president and CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, saying: “She’s a leader, an activist, a mother and a wife, unafraid to speak truth to power … a cis lesbian woman who stands with trans people and reminds the world that the T in LGBTQ is not going anywhere.”
The GLAAD Media Awards winners from Saturday’s ceremony are as follows:
Outstanding Film – Streaming/TV
Fire Island (Hulu) and Anything’s Possible (Prime Video)
Outstanding Reality Series
We’re Here (HBO)
Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode
The Problem With Jon Stewart (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia
Logo’s Trans Youth Town Hall (Logo)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Live Action
Heartstopper (Netflix)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Animated
Dead End: Paranormal Park (Netflix)
Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist
Dove Cameron (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Broadway Production
A Strange Loop
Outstanding Video Game
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment
“HIV in the Deep South” In Real Life (Scripps News)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Long-Form
PRIDE | To Be Seen, Soul of a Nation (ABC)
Outstanding Live TV Journalism – Segment or Special
“The Last Thing Before We Go: Stephanie Ruhle Talks Spirit Day” The 11th Hour (MSNBC)
Outstanding Print Article
“Pediatricians Who Serve Trans Youth Face Increasing Harassment. Lifesaving Care Could Be on the Line” by Madeleine Carlisle (Time)
Outstanding Online Journalism Article
“Alabama Is Trying to Raise the Legal Driving Age for Trans People to 19” by Nico Lang (TheDailyBeast.com)
Outstanding Blog
Mombian
Outstanding Podcast
TransLash Podcast With Imara Jones (TransLash Media) and Sibling Rivalry (Studio71) (Tie)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism Article
“Proyectos de ley anti LGBTQ+ en Florida son una ‘licencia para discriminar’ y reviven el dolor de Pulse, dicen grupos locales” por Jennifer A Marcial Ocasio (OrlandoSentinel.com)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia
“Las abuelas trans buscan dignificar su vejez” por Liliana
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