Luke Bryan Isn't Apologizing For His Controversial Concert Guest Star
Though many country stars like to make quite the statement when it comes to their political views, Luke Bryan isn't one of them. While his peers such as Maren Morris have proudly thrown their support behind political figures (she famously vowed to vote for now President Joe Biden in a since deleted Instagram post, per Billboard), Bryan has always been a little more ambiguous about if his beliefs align more with the blue or the red, and it's sounds like that's always been somewhat purposeful.
In fact, Bryan has always been more about minimizing the divide between those with differing views, revealing back in 2017 prior to co-hosting the ACM Awards alongside Dierks Bentley, "Democrats and Republicans are going to get along on Sunday night. They're all going to watch the ACMs together and stuff's going to start happening in this country. It's going to change. Cats and dogs are going to make out," he told Associated Press (via CBS News).
So, with all those years of not exactly putting his stake in the ground when it came to politics, some were pretty surprised when Bryan actually invited a controversial political figure on stage with him in the Sunshine State; none other than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. It's safe to say the internet had plenty to say about it, but it seems like Bryan isn't backing down.
Luke Bryan denied fraternizing with Ron DeSantis was a political statement
Luke Bryan had Ron DeSantis make an appearance on stage during a Jacksonville concert on October 28, which had plenty on social media branding him "canceled" due to the Republican politician's polarizing views. However, Bryan took to Twitter on October 30 amid the chatter to share what really went down, explaining his decision to bring DeSantis (who threw out baseball caps featuring his logo) on stage was not a political statement and was instead his way of bringing awareness to disaster relief.
"I understand Governor DeSantis is a very polarizing figure. But I grew up in a country where if a governor asks you if they can come and raise awareness to help victims of a natural disaster you help," he wrote (notably, parts of Florida has been battered by Hurricane Ian mere weeks before Bryan's show). "I knew people would chatter about this but for me the more important piece was If I am going to come back there a few weeks after a large portion of people have been affected by a natural disaster in a state where people have been good to me this felt right," he added, also including a number for fans to make donations.
Of course, Twitter users had mixed responses, though the "American Idol" just tried to get back to some lighter topics. He responded to a fan who shared a video of him dancing around onstage in Jacksonville, tweeting, "Thank you."