Country star Mickey Guyton is opening up about how she went into labor after calling out her fellow artist for using the N-word. As she recently sat down for an interview on The Breakfast Club, Guyton said she was pregnant when she faced backlash from the public for holding Morgan Wallen accountable for using the racial slur in a 2021 video.
“The hate runs deep. Smfh,” Guyton tweeted in response to Wallen’s video, per iHeart.com. “This is not his first time using that ‘ unacceptable’ racial slur and we all known that. So what exactly are y’all going to do about it? Crickets won’t work this time. How many passes will you continue to give? Asking for a friend. No one deserves to be canceled [but] this is unacceptable.”
Fighting through tears on The Breakfast Club, Guyton said she went into early labor after facing backlash for holding Wallen accountable. Although she was distraught by the criticism she faced, Guyton also said she feels encouraged by the progress she’s seeing in country music.
“I’ve been going to CMA Fest for years and I saw nobody. Now there are so many different Black country artists that are coming and being on stages and getting to sing on stages. There’s Black people that are attending CMA Fest that feel like there’s a space for them,” Guyton said.
The singer acknowledged that change is slow, but she still feels optimistic.
“There’s so much going on that can be very discouraging, but there’s so many things that are happening because we’re still here and still fighting,” she said.
Guyton said she has been dealing with racism since her childhood days in Texas, but the unfortunate circumstances motivated her be even more proud of being Black.
“It’s so important as Black people that we show ourselves in all different facets of this country and in this world,” she said. “Because this country was built of off Black people.”
Especially when it comes to country music, Guyton said she embraces the chance to break barriers. Particularly in the early stages of her career when she struggled to find success with country, Guyton said her husband helped her realize that she just needs to be herself.
“I was getting ready to quit and I was getting ready to quit country music, I talked to my husband, saying ‘why do you think country music isn’t working for me?’ Guyton said. “He was like ‘you’re running away from everything that makes you different…you’re a Black woman that sing country music, so why aren’t you writing from that perspective?’ So I wrote ‘Black Like Me.'”
That song, which was nominated for a Grammy, was start of a new beginning for Guyton.
“From there, I started thinking, ‘OK if I’m going to leave this genre, I need to make sure I can make it easier for the people that come after me,” Guyton said. “So I started looking for Black country singers. I found Brittney Spencer…I discovered Reyna Roberts and Tanner Adell and all these different artists. And I was juts trying to show people that were here. Because if Black people can see themselves, we will come to the genres.”
Guyton released her newest album, House On Fire, on Friday.
