While Maren Morris was a winner at the 2020 ACM Awards, the singer didn't always experience victories when it came to shamers online.
After receiving criticism over her social media posts earlier this year, the new mom, who gave birth to her first child in March, decided to limit what she shares of her son Hayes. She addressed the shaming in July after the backlash mounted over a photo of the artist holding her newborn in an inflatable raft on a lake. Some chastised the star for Hayes not wearing a life jacket. Her husband Ryan Hurd spoke out against the flack, tweeting, "My kid was not unsafe on a float in 1 feet of water being held by an adult with 5 people watching so she could get a picture."
When asked if she was shocked about the mommy shamers during an ACM Awards press room interview, the songstress expressed her disappointment in conflict arising between mothers.
"I guess I shouldn't be shocked because I've had plenty of trolls come after me before and I can definitely have thick skin when it comes to someone saying my music is terrible or I'm ruining the sanctity of country music," she explained. "But, for some reason it feels like an extra betrayal when it's another mother shaming another mother."
Instead, Morris called for moms to uplift each other in such a hard role. "I just feel like we need to all give each other some grace," she continued. "I would never do that and I've learned to be less judgmental all around just by being a mom because it's extremely humbling. And yeah, I just think let's all love each other and give each other good advice. Even if it's unsolicited, at least it's good advice."
Overall, "I would just say let's do better," she encouraged, "and not put someone down that's obviously trying their best."
At the awards, the star reaped the rewards of her work, taking home the statue for Female Artist of the Year for the first time. She also beat out fellow nominee Miranda Lambert, who has won the award nine times in a row.
"And she deserves it," Morris said of her fellow country star in the press room. "I just feel like I never really saw myself winning this...When I vote on that award in years past, it's for not the best singer of the bunch because that's so subjective. But, I feel like that goes to someone that your peers think had a massive, monumental year, so I am just so humbled that my Nashville community, my industry peeps think that my year has been big because part of it has been in 2020, which has been kind of a shit show. So, someone saying I had a good year is so much validation."
—Reporting by Alli Rosenbloom