Kacey Musgraves has hit back at former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after Noem took a swipe at the singer on X, according to Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone and TMZ. The exchange began after Texas Senate candidate James Talarico attended Musgraves’ concert in Dallas.
How it started
Musgraves played back-to-back shows at the American Airlines Center in Dallas over the weekend on her Middle of Nowhere Tour. Talarico, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, was in the audience and posted photos, including one of the singer taking a selfie with him. “Thank you for having me last night, Kacey Musgraves!” he wrote.
Noem reposted the photos on X. “I’ll take Ella Langley over Kacey Musgraves any day,” she wrote. “And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.” Paxton is Talarico’s Republican opponent, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The first line nods to Langley’s hit “Choosin’ Texas.”
Musgraves’ reply
On Monday, Oct. 12, Musgraves quote-posted Noem with a line that pointed to a story in Noem’s memoir. “I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it,” she wrote. In the book, Noem describes shooting her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, after she said the animal had behavior problems. Variety and Rolling Stone both note that the anecdote drew wide criticism when it came out.
Ella Langley stays out of it
Variety and Rolling Stone report that Langley, or her team, quickly removed her tag from Noem’s post. Langley has been in the news herself this week, as we reported when she defended canceling a Tulsa show over a security threat.
Variety says Noem had not posted again on X as of its report. Noem was fired as Homeland Security Secretary in March and now serves as a special envoy, according to Variety.
Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, TMZ. Images are editorial cartoons, not photographs.
