Country singers Chase Rice and Chris Janson are being slammed for performing concerts Saturday night as the U.S. grapples with a spike in COVID-19 infections.
Rice, 34, shared two video clips on his Instagram Story showing a crowd of fans – with no apparent social distancing or face masks – at his show in Petros, Tennessee. He captioned one clip: “We back.”
Among those sharing their shock and outrage on social media was country star Kelsea Ballerini.
“Imagine being selfish enough to put thousands of people’s health at risk, not to mention the potential ripple effect, and play a NORMAL country concert right now,” she tweeted. “We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait.”
Whitney Pastorek, who was laid off from Nashville’s Red Light Management in April due to the pandemic, fumed: “I’m sickened and furious.”
Others tweeted comments like “Imagine risking your life to go see Chase Rice in concert” and
“Who the f*ck is Chase Rice and why are all these white people willing to kill and die to see him???”
Tennessee currently has about 40,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and has reported 577 deaths.
Rice is scheduled to perform a show at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, Kentucky on July 3 followed by four concerts at drive-in theatres in Georgia.
Janson shared video of a crowd at his show at the Hwy 30 Fest in Filer, Idaho – but later deleted it from Instagram. He has another concert scheduled for July 10 in North Dakota.
Pastorek said she does not understand why the two singers would “jeopardize the health of their fans (and their fans’ families and communities)."
In an Instagram Story, she wrote: “My heart breaks for every single artist and management team who made the compassionate choice and has to watch this s**t right now. BE BETTER.”