Miranda Lambert praises concertgoer’s ‘Shoot Tequila, Not Selfies’ shirt after backlash for scolding fan

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Miranda Lambert is already laughing off her recent controversy.

The 39-year-old country star sparked a debate over picture-taking at concerts after pausing a show at her Las Vegas residency earlier this month to scold a group of women taking selfies.

Lambert once again paused her Velvet Rodeo The Las Vegas Residency show at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on Saturday (22 July); this time to joke with fans.

“Her shirt says, ‘Shoot tequila, not selfies,’” Lambert said, pointing out the slogan on a concertgoer in a video shared on social media.

“She did it. I didn’t,” the singer added, laughing, before accepting a miniature bottle of tequila from an audience member. She was also heard telling the fan her shirt was “badass”.

The interaction follows her exchange with the selfie-taking fans on 16 July.

The singer was in the middle of singing her 2016 track “Tin Man” when she abruptly stopped to point out a group of women near the front of the audience.

“These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song, it’s pissing me off a little bit,” she said. “Sorry, I don’t like it at all. We’re here to hear some country music tonight. I’m singing some country damn music. Shall we start again?”

One of the fans whom Lambert was speaking about has since spoken out about the incident.

“It felt like I was back at school with the teacher scolding me for doing something wrong and telling me to sit down back in my place,” Adela Callin told NBC News on Monday (17 July).

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“I feel like she was determined to make us look like we were young, immature and vain. But we were just grown women in our thirties to sixties trying to take a picture.”

Calin, who said they took a selfie for “30 seconds at most”, said she felt “appalled” by Lambert’s behaviour.

“We took the picture quickly and were going to sit back down,” she said, explaining that she had asked someone to take a photo of the group of friends because they were unable to take one before.

“We were so excited because I think we had the best seats in the house in the whole theatre,” Calin continued.

Lambert’s representatives did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

Lambert’s reaction to the selfie has divided fans, some of whom even left her concert in protest.

Footage from the clip showed some fans cheering as she restarted her performance while another woman was seen leaving her seat, stating: “Come on. Let’s go. You don’t do that to fans.”

Several other fans commented on the clip in solidarity with the woman’s early exit.

“Yeah I would’ve left, f*** that. They paid to be there. If you don’t want pictures then don’t allow phones. That’s ridiculous!” one responded.