In March 2003, the American country band the Dixie Chicks publicly criticized President George W. Bush, triggering a backlash. At a concert in London during their Top of the World Tour, the lead singer, Natalie Maines, said the Dixie Chicks were ashamed Bush was from the same state as them, and that they did not support the imminent invasion of Iraq.
The Dixie Chicks were one of the most popular American country acts at the time. After the statement was reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, it triggered a backlash from American country listeners, who were mostly right-wing and supported the war. The Dixie Chicks were blacklisted by many country radio stations, received death threats and were criticized by other country musicians. Sales of their music and concert tickets declined and they lost corporate sponsorship. A few days later, Maines issued an apology, saying her remark had been disrespectful. She rescinded the apology in 2006, saying she felt Bush deserved no respect.
Some of the comments by prominent fascists at the time(cw misogyny)
It’s hard to get across how big of a deal this was at the time because we don’t have the same concept of mass media nowadays that existed back then. Cell phones weren’t nearly as ubiquitous, things like aux ports and Bluetooth connections in car sound systems were considered luxuries and were much less common, and streaming was yet to dethrone cable as the primary way that people watched TV. So you could ride in the car (having the radio on would be a given) and then you’d walk inside at home (turning on cable would be a given). You’d hear Dixie Chicks in the car and then they’d be in a commercial on the TV. I believe they made guest appearances on a bunch of shows as well. But it wasn’t because you were being targeted by the algorithm as a Dixie Chicks fan. It was because the Dixie Chicks were in and everyone was being targeted with them.
And then, overnight, they were gone. No more radio play. No more commercials. No exaggeration, I remember the day I realized I hadn’t heard their songs on the way to school and it was weird. They were so ubiquitous that I noticed their absence. I don’t remember anything that happened the day after 9/11, but I remember the day after the Dixie Chicks got cancelled.