Country music star Travis Tritt stood by his decision to boycott areas and venues requiring masks, proof of vaccination, or COVID tests, claiming such policies “discriminate” and “divide people.”
Tritt appeared on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Tuesday with host Tucker Carlson. Tritt emphasized that his decision to boycott certain venues was not a protest for or against vaccines, but only against policies restricting people based on their vaccination status.
“We have done about 75 shows so far this year, all over the country, and in spite of the fact that some people would try to label these as being ‘super-spreaders,’ the actual numbers don’t reflect that at all,” Tritt said, according to Fox News.
“As a matter of fact, quite the opposite. In most of these areas, we have seen the COVID numbers actually drop dramatically over the last few weeks and months, and so it came as quite a shock to me and a lot of my fans when during the first week of October, a lot of these shows had restrictions placed on them, not by the state, not by the local city government, not by the local health department and municipalities, but by the actual promoters and venue owners,” he said.
Tritt said that the regulations over COVID-19 are not about science, but “something else.” The regulations are barring people from returning to normal life more than a year and a half after widespread lockdowns began in the U.S. over the spread of COVID-19.
“These people have been shut out from getting a chance to go see concerts for over a year, and they are finally getting a chance to do that again, and now they are being turned away for some unexplained reason, so this is not about following the science or trying to look out for the safety of the people there. This is about something else. This is trying to divide people,” Tritt continued.
“This is trying to shame people. This is trying to basically discriminate against people that they don’t feel are clean enough to be part of enjoying a concert like that,” he said.
“I felt like I had to stand up for freedom; freedom for all of those people to be able to go out and do what they enjoy doing and enjoy a concert without being harassed.”
Tritt announced on Monday that he was canceling a number of his upcoming shows due to venues requiring patrons to either wear masks, show up with proof of vaccination, or submit a negative COVID-19 test.
“I’m putting my money where my mouth is and announcing that any venue or promoter mandating masks, requiring vaccinations, or pushing COVID testing protocols on my fans will not be tolerated,” Tritt said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. “Any show I have booked that discriminates against concert-goers by requiring proof of vaccination, a COVID test, or a mask is being canceled immediately.”