Carrie Underwood's Coronavirus Video Under Fire Amid Yoga Pants Storm
By Rebecca Cukier on April 3, 2020 at 1:16 PM EDT
Jason Kempin/GettyImages
Carrie Underwood has fallen under fire for the second time in a week. The 37-year-old country superstar, clothing designer, and "Find Your Path" author took to the platform on Thursday with 2010-married husband Mike Fisher to deliver a coronavirus message –keep scrolling for the video. Encouraging her 9.5 million followers to "do your part, stay apart" may have seen the view-count climb to 1.2 million, but negative comments gained likes.
The backlash comes amid a storm Carrie managed to cause by promoting yoga pants from her 2015-founded Calia by Carrie athleisurewear line, with fans dubbing the "advertising" of her merch to be in poor taste during a global pandemic.
Carrie Underwood/Instagram
Carrie's video (seen below) showed her home and seated with retired NHL star husband Mike. The "Cry Pretty" singer wore a simple black t-shirt and matching pants as she and Mike encouraged fans to do their part and social distance.
Mike asked viewers to stay "at home as much as possible," with Carrie adding:
"That's right. Working together, we can stop the spread of COVID-19."
Mike added "God Bless." Fans would likely argue that the video offered nothing but positivity. alongside the re-inforcement of government-recommended practices amid a pandemic that has now claimed over 58,000 lives worldwide.
Carrie Underwood/Instagram
The vast majority of comments – some even coming from first responders – saw Carrie's followers thank her for taking the time to spread awareness.
"As a healthcare employee “Thank You” from all of us!??," one user wrote.
A comment gaining over 105 likes was less flattering.
"Real easy to preach this stay apart crap when you got tons of money and don't have to worry about it," the user wrote.
Also gaining likes was a trolling response suggesting that the "American Idol" winner had been paid to feature in the video.
"How much did they pay you to get on board with this agenda," the fan asked.
Carrie has an estimated net worth of $140 million.
Carrie Underwood/Instagram
Back-up took little time as fans defended Carrie.
"Why are you being so rude? The video wasn’t cringey or dry. Is this really the right time to be insulting someone? Carrie doesn’t deserve any of your insults," one fan wrote.
"Money has nothing to do with it. This virus doesn’t discriminate. The only people that should be out are those that are considered essential workers and have no choice. Everyone else needs to stay home. We are also staying home to help protect our essential workers. Anything helps," another added.
Carrie Underwood/Instagram
As The Blast documented, Carrie found herself slammed after a photo of her modeling her brand's PowerSculpt leggings while perusing a rack of her merch sparked backlash. The blonde had referred to "staying productive" during this time, with a sarcastic – but nonetheless popular –comment dragging her out.
"This should say 'being productive by making money advertising on Instagram during quarantine, while all you try to figure out how to afford your bills,'" the fan wrote.
Elsewhere, Carrie has made headlines for her March 3-released book sales soaring as millions lead new lives from home. The book is already a New York Times Best-Seller.