Miranda Lambert inadvertently waded into the ongoing discourse surrounding live performance etiquette when she interrupted a recent concert to berate a group of audience members for taking selfies.
Video footage taken during Lambert’s Las Vegas residency concert on Saturday and shared on TikTok shows the country singer-songwriter beginning a rendition of his 2017 hit, “Tin Man,” before asking his band to stop playing after noticing the band.
“I’m going to stop here for a second, sorry,” Lambert tells the crowd, as seen in the clip. “These girls worry about their selfies and don’t listen to the songs, [and] it annoys me a bit. I do not like it at all. We’re here to listen to country music tonight. I sing country dang!
After taking a second to compose herself, she added, “Are we doing it again?
Vegas resident Adela Barnes, who was one of five women in the group chosen by Lambert, told HuffPost she felt like she was “back at school where a teacher calls me and told me to sit down because I did something wrong”.
She estimated the whole ordeal lasted around 20 seconds and noted that she didn’t think she and her friends were distracted while taking the photo.
Immediately after the incident, Barnes said she and one of the four friends decided to stay and try to enjoy the rest of the concert.
However, she no longer considers herself a fan of Lambert.
“It would be a little awkward to go to another one of his concerts,” she said, adding that she had paid a few thousand dollars for her seat in the VIP section of Planet Hollywood’s Bakkt Theater.
A rep for Lambert did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, but told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that the three-time Grammy winner had “nothing further to share at this time.” about the incident.
Unsurprisingly, the reaction to the video on social media was sharply divided.
“I mean, if they’re having a good time, taking pictures (to reminisce) and not bothering anyone, why does she care?” one person wrote.
Another added: “Yeah I would’ve been gone, damn it. They paid to be there. If you don’t want pics don’t allow phones. This is ridiculous!”
Others came to Lambert’s defense.
“I was there so for anyone acting like she’s an ass these girls weren’t just taking peaceful selfies but disrupting everyone’s experience,” one person wrote on TikTok.