Country star Carrie Underwood has encountered too many bullies on social media. And their negativity led her to rethink her approach to fan interactions.
Underwood isn’t afraid to call out harassing behavior. But she eventually had to “put a barrier up” due to persistent meanness. And ultimately, she came to a place where she felt, “I don’t know if I can do this.”
After someone photographed and publicly shamed a friend of Underwood’s for exercising at her child’s soccer game in 2016, the American Idol winner joined the conversation and put the heckler on blast.
“This guy felt the need to post this pic of my friend and trainer, Erin Oprea, along with some really insecure and mean comments,” Underwood told her Instagram followers. “He was shaming her for getting in some exercise during her son’s soccer game. Not cool.”
She applauded her friend for using “someone else’s negativity to help others.”
“That man obviously has a big problem…with himself,” Underwood declared. “I only hope he can learn to like himself someday so he can be an adult and stop bullying others for bettering themselves!”
Most fans who replied supported Underwood and her trainer. One person wrote, “… He found a woman to bully, and he chose Carrie Underwood’s personal trainer?? That’s karma right there. I’d love to see if he replied to either one of these amazing women.”
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In an interview with Redbook, Underwood, who once described herself as “incredibly disappointing to people” when she’s not on stage, explained why her social media habits have changed. “I feel like bullies have changed the way I react to the world,” she declared.
“You want to be connected to your fans, and I used to feel like I could go through social media and talk to people, really have that communication,” she went on. “But you get to a point where there are too many mean people saying mean things — probably just to get a reaction from you — and eventually, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’”
Underwood shared that she’s had to put “a barrier up, which is sad.”
Carrie Underwood turned negative comments into a positive change for her
Underwood told Extra about some of the bully-like behavior she’s experienced, specifically negativity regarding her weight. She revealed it prompted her to start evaluating where she could make some lifestyle changes.
She explained, “It was definitely an introduction into being in the public eye, but it was [also]… a catalyst for me to say, ‘Okay, I’m not making some healthy choices, and maybe I can do more of that, not for those people but for me.’”
Now, Underwood has made staying incredibly fit a lifestyle. “Working out and staying healthy is just a way of life for Carrie. It is who she is, what she does,” trainer Eve Overland told Shape. “Carrie understands that staying strong, mobile, and conditioned is so important in all aspects of her life, on and off the stage. Working out is self-care and her me time.”
