American Idol fourth-season champion Carrie Underwood has apologized for an Academy of Country Music Awards acceptance speech comment that some viewers construed as an apparent sexual reference.
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The country music superstar apologized for the comment, which occurred after actor Matthew McCanaughey had revealed that she had become only the seventh female act to ever win the CMA's Entertainer of the Year award, immediately after CBS' live Sunday night broadcast of the 44th annual awards show ended.
"I'm so embarrassed, I totally embarrassed myself. I just blanked," Underwood told Fox News backstage after the ceremony. "You want to say something eloquent in a moment like that and I embarrassed myself. I'm sorry Matthew, I'm sorry to my family. I'm totally embarrassed."
Prior to announcing the award's nominees, McCanaughey told the audience a story about how a road trip he and his brother took to see Dwight Yoakam in the 1980's had ended on a high note due to his ability to think quickly while they trying to pick up some women.
"We're like, 'Oh yeah. Say, as I a matter of fact, out in the parking lot, in the trunk of our white Corvette, we have the next year's new edition white ostrich quill George Strait signed series that he's gonna wear on tour next year.' And they got pretty excited about that and said, 'Well, can we see? Can we see? Can we see?' And we obliged" McConaughey told the audience with a smile. "Point of the story is, we got lucky that night. Thank you, George."
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The actor then announced the nominees and revealed that Underwood had won. However a tearful Underwood later made a brief reference to McConaughey's story as she struggled with her acceptance speech.
"I don't know what to say. I got nothing -- um, I want to see those boots, Matthew," she said as the audience laughed in response.
Underwood told Fox News backstage that she had "blacked out" after hearing her name called out as the winner of the award. She added that she had hardly remembered anything that had happened from the time she left her seat in the audience to the time she entered the press room after receiving the award.
"It is definitely a male-dominated genre of music. But this [winning] is just indescribable. I can't wait until the day when having a female nominated in the category is no big deal," she told Fox News. "I accept it for all the women before me who kicked butt and never got the recognition they deserve and didn't get the opportunity to get nominated."
About The Author: John Bracchitta