Luke Bryan feared he would be fired from American Idol after coming under fire following his “tasteless” introduction of Dustin Lynch at a music festival in Mexico in January 2023.
Lynch, 38, appeared Tuesday on the podcast God’s countrydetailing the fallout from Bryan’s controversial introduction of him to the Crash My Playa festival.
Bryan, 47, was concerned about his place on the series, Lynch said, after he introduced him, saying, “Nobody’s had more booze, nobody’s thrown up more, nobody’s done more drugs, nobody’s taken more.” IVs, no one has passed more STD tests than this next gentleman.”
Lynch said he and Bryan were monitoring the online reaction to Bryan’s viral comments in real time as the story went viral, and were initially disturbed by the pushback: “We’re seeing all these articles coming out like, ‘Oh, crap.’ ‘
Lynch said at the time, Bryan said he had to apologize publicly because he was “concerned” about his spot on American Idol.
Luke Bryan (left) feared he would be fired from American Idol after coming under fire for his ‘tasteless’ introduction of Dustin Lynch (right) at a music festival in Mexico in January 2023
“Who cares about country music?” Lynch said. “It’s American Idol…he gets to a place where he can’t sleep at night because he’s worried.”
Bryan’s only intention was to “be funny” in his introduction, Lynch said, but he crossed the line of good taste with the references to sex and substance abuse.
“He’s starting to go down this path of just bashing me and to the point where I’m looking at his manager like ‘Dang,’” Lynch said of Bryan, who has been a judge on the music competition alongside Lionel Richie since 2018. and Katy Perry.
Fans were quick to respond on social media, calling the speech “tasteless” and expressing their disappointment with the American Idol star’s comments.
One wrote: “I love Luke but he sounded like an idiot making that introduction sad,” while another typed: “What Luke said about Dustin doesn’t deserve to be said.” Dustin deserved a better introduction than that.
Another typed: ‘I understand he may have been drunk and joking but as a DL fan this is disgusting for Luke to do.’
Another wrote: ‘What Luke Bryan said about Dustin Lynch is absolutely inappropriate! No one deserves an introduction to the stage like Luke did to Dustin.”
One fan wrote: ‘I’m beyond disappointed in what Luke said about Dustin, that wasn’t cool at all,’ while a second wrote: ‘Keep up the good work, zero talent Luke! Soon you will be playing in empty stadiums.’
Bryan was criticized by fans for his rude introduction at a Dustin Lynch performance
Bryan added, “No one has drank more booze, no one has thrown up more, no one has done more drugs, no one has taken more IVs, no one has passed more STD tests than this next gentleman.”
The old country music colleagues were photographed in Nashville in 2018
The entertainers were photographed sharing the stage in Indio, California in 2016
Fury: Fans took to social media to fire up Bryan
Another wrote: ‘Drunk or not, this is so tasteless and inappropriate. I lost so much respect after seeing this.
“If anyone talked about Luke’s nieces the way he talks about Dustin, Luke would destroy their reputation! Remember, the stone you roll comes back to you Luke!
Other fans supported Bryan, writing, “I think he was funny,” while another wrote, “Did you ever think they are really good friends?”
Lynch said Tuesday that Bryan, in a manner that “shows you what kind of man Luke is,” asked him for his parents’ email addresses to apologize to them for his comments.
Bryan would subsequently apologize, saying that his off-color comments were made out of “complete sarcasm,” and that Lynch is one of his “dearest friends on earth.”
The 22nd season of American Idol will debut on February 18 at 8/7c on ABC.