Country star Faith Hill has had to come out and insist that she was only joking when she was seen on camera having a 'tantrum' following the announcement that Carrie Underwood had beaten her to the Female Vocalist Of The Year accolade at the recent and previously reported Country Music Awards in Nashville.
I've seen a video of the footage. It's that bit at an award ceremony where the screen splits and focuses in on all the nominees looking nervous and preparing to don a gritty smile when they've lost. When Underwood is announced as the winner, Hill screams "what?" at the camera, and flails her arms a bit, then laughs and smiles. Everyone's calling her a diva so she's been forced to defend herself on the issue.
In a statement Hill said: "The idea that I would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is unimaginable to me. For this to become a focus of attention given the talent gathered is utterly ridiculous. Carrie is a talented and deserving female vocalist of the year."
Her manager, Gary Borman, added: "I've worked with Faith for many years now and the idea that she would ever insult or undermine another artist, let alone another human being's success is absolutely preposterous. Those who know her know that she's incapable of such actions. She was being playful while the nominations were being read and playful after."
It seems as though she was joking to me. But I kind of don't care if she wasn't. It made my heart glad to see Samuel L Jackson clearly saying "Shit!" when he failed to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar back in 1995.