Maren Morris defended her 2019 Playboy photoshoot and shut down critics calling her feature “country female sexuality in its realest form.”
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“Before I go into the next album era, I did [Playboy] in 2019 and got a lot of hate at the time, but I’m the proudest that I showed country female sexuality in its (realest) form here,” wrote Morris on Instagram. “We are nuanced, we are messy and stretch-marked in the most beautiful way.”
The 31-year-old country music singer and songwriter added, “Don’t sleep on us. We tell your down home stories in the most unflinching, gorgeous lane.”
Morris posed for the “Gender and Sexuality” issue of Playboy in 2019, appearing topless donning a cowboy hat, boots, and red pants, and was met with backlash from critics who said she may lose respect from fans and that she shouldn’t be exposing herself.
“You will definitely lose a lot of respect for this,” read one comment. “I hope you realize that. Is this really the type of name you want for yourself?” Another person wrote, “Nope. Don’t like em. We all know you are a gorgeous lady. No need to expose yourself to the world.”
The Playboy shoot with Morris was accompanied by an interview with the country star covering songwriting, the role of women within the country music and the shifting of the genre, sex, her second album GIRL, and more.
“I recently accepted myself and will put these photos in a frame because I’ll never have this moment back,” wrote Morris following the initial backlash in 2019. Her husband Ryan Hurd supported his wife at the time and posted one of Morris’ photos with the caption “taken… sorry boys and girls.”
“The thing about me is I make music for myself,” said Morris at the time. ”I learned later that it touches others, which is the most wonderful byproduct of a songwriter’s calling. Some can slut-shame me for my lyrics about sex, and you can put me in your little box, but I just want to live and love.”
Already outspoken about body image issues and gender equality within the music industry, Morris added, “I recently accepted myself and will put these photos in a frame because I’ll never have this moment back.”
Morris, who has a son Hayes with Hurd, is releasing her third album Humble Quest on March 25.
“I’m speaking such a loud, noisy concept of what it means to be a woman in the music industry right now,” said Morris in her Playboy interview. “This feels like I’m amplifying a message I’ve been passionate about since the beginning that has intensified in the past year. I feel I’ve already challenged a lot of sexual norms. It’s funny because it’s not that risqué in the grand scheme of things.”
She added, “Even the cover of ‘GIRL’ is slightly risqué, but it feels like me, throwback but a little modern. I knew it would piss some people off that I was in a bra top. Doing ‘Playboy’ has been a really fun challenge. I’m trying to do more things that scare me. Every year I’m trying to peel back my layers emotionally, and I guess physically.”
Photo: Harper Smith
