Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani‘s appearances at the American Music Awards on Monday (May 26) drew criticism from fans who felt “lied to” after discovering that their performances were pre-recorded. During the telecast, Shelton performed his new single, “Stay Country or Die Tryin,” and later “returned” to introduce his wife, Stefani, who performed a medley including her hits “The Sweet Escape” and “Hollaback Girl,” along with the recent single, “Swallow My Tears.” Despite being shown videos of the couple’s performances during the live event, attendees revealed in a series of TikTok videos that the artists were not physically present on stage, sparking disappointment among fans. While some fans voiced their expectations to see all previously announced artists perform live, it’s not unusual for televised awards shows to include pre-taped segments. While Stefani wasn’t physically at the awards show, she appeared to be “live-tweeting” several of the performances. Representatives for Shelton and Stefani did not immediately respond to the controversy, and the AMAs declined to comment on the issue. (Rolling Stone)
