On Saturday night, after singing the National Anthem at game 6 of MLB’s National League Championship Series, country music star Travis Tritt took a rip at those who criticized the Atlanta Braves for permitting him to sing the national anthem at a playoff game, tweeting, “So the wing nut cancel culture tried to pressure the Atlanta Braves into forcing me not to sing the National Anthem at Game 6 of the NLCS. I’m so thankful that the @braves did not cave to this pressure and refused to be bullied. Thanks for allowing me to pay tribute to America.”
So the wing nut cancel culture tried to pressure the Atlanta Braves into forcing me not to sing the National Anthem at Game 6 of the NLCS. I’m so thankful that the @braves did not cave to this pressure and refused to be bullied. Thanks for allowing me to pay tribute to America.🇺🇸
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) October 24, 2021
The Washington Post reported on Saturday prior to Tritt’s performance: “The Braves chose Tritt because he is a big fan of the team. Most teams bring out their most high-profile fans this time of year. But the choice is somewhat puzzling because it seems to court unnecessary controversy, given Tritt’s stance against vaccination mandates.”
At roughly the same time, USA Today ran an opinion piece stating: “On the night of one of their most important game [sic] in 20-plus years, the Atlanta Braves have chosen to wade knee-deep into the culture war of the moment and bring COVID-19 politics into the ballpark. … for the Braves to choose Tritt as the performer for this particular game, after this particular week, can only be interpreted as a middle finger to the segment of its fan base that stands on the side of science and an endorsement of the kind of misinformation that keeps the COVID-19 pandemic going strong.”
“By allowing Tritt to sing for their organization, the Braves are sending the wrong message for MLB — a league whose success is predicated on a successful COVID-19 policy and heavy reliance on the COVID-19 vaccine,” Fansided.com wrote.
On Monday, Tritt had announced he would cancel some of his shows at venues requiring fans to either show proof of COVID vaccination, submit a negative COVID test, or mandating masks.
“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.”
According to a press release, Tritt canceled shows in Muncie, Indiana; Philadelphia, Mississippi; Peoria, Illinois; and Louisville, Kentucky.
Tritt stated:
Many people are taking a firm stand against these mandates around the country, and I wholeheartedly support that cause. I have been extremely vocal against mandates since the beginning. This is a sacrifice that I’m willing to make to stand up for the freedoms that generations of Americans have enjoyed for their entire lifetimes. There are plenty of promoters and venues around the country that appreciate fans and the freedom of choice in this great country, and those are the promoters and venues that I will be supporting.
On Tuesday, Tritt told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson: “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. … 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 added: “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. 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.”
“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,” he said.