Country star Chris Stapleton supports Black Lives Matter, says America is a 'myth'

Country star Chris Stapleton has come out in support of Black Lives Matter, saying that the America he thought he lived in is a "myth." The country star opened up to CBS This Morning during an interview about his recently completed album "Starting Over."

"I think everybody should be doing more," Stapleton said. "It's time for me to listen. And it's time for other folks to listen."

He went on to admit that his perspective of the United States has changed in recent months.

"You know, I thought we were living in a different country. And that's 100% real," Stapleton said. "I feel like the country that I thought that we were living in was a myth."

When asked if he supported the Black Lives Matter movement, Stapleton added: "Do I think Black lives matter? Absolutely...I don't know how you could think they don't."

"I think we all have a lot of work to do, you know, as individuals and as a society," the singer added. "And if you don't think that, I think you're not looking."

The statement prompted some fans to call for a boycott of Stapleton, with one writing:  "Welp, looks like I'm done listening to another sell out."

While another added: "I absolutely loved your music from the very start and it pains me to delete it all now. You had a moment to stand up for all the good, hard working folks that still believe in our country, police and military,  but you caved like a house of cards and pandered to the BLM mob. Sad."

Stapleton isn't the only country star to come out in support of Black Lives Matter. Country star Dolly Parton recently expressed her support. 

“I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” Parton said in reference to protests that were sparked by the death of George Floyd. “And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white a**es are the only ones that matter? No!”

Parton also went on to explain why she renamed her Dixie Stampede dinner attraction to Dolly Parton’s Stampede in 2018.

“There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that,” Parton told the publication. “When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business. We’ll just call it The Stampede.’ As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don’t be a dumba**. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”

The singer went on to address people who judge others, writing, “First of all, I’m not a judgmental person. I do believe we all have a right to be exactly who we are, and it is not my place to judge. All these good Christian people that are supposed to be such good Christian people, the last thing we’re supposed to do is to judge one another. God is the judge, not us. I just try to be myself. I try to let everybody else be themselves.”