Meghan Linsey Receives Death Threats After Taking a Knee at Titans Game

Meghan Linsey walked on the field at the Titans-Seahawks game on Sept. 24 to sing the National Anthem, but she left having taken a stand. Or rather, a knee.

After The Voice alum sang the "Star-Spangled Banner," she knelt in solidarity with the NFL players who have been taking a knee during the National Anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality — and unfortunately, she has been paying a price for her activism. Linsey has been receiving death threats and other harsh comments about being un-American and being anti-military, which the Tennessean reports she "vehemently denies."

The experience has been a difficult one, she says.

“I’ve been waking up with anxiety a lot and it’s hard to eat food and sleep, but other than that, I’m good,” says Linsey. “I feel like I did the right thing. I don’t have any regrets.”

Who Stands — Err, Kneels — With Meghan Linsey?

Linsey says that despite the response she’s received, it wasn’t about being anti-troops or anti-America. “It wasn’t a matter of standing against our flag or our military,” she said. “I was standing up for a cause that I believe in.”

The hostile reactions have been indicative of the state of our culture right now, she says, but that she felt a responsibility to make a statement especially because of her own race and position of influence.

“I think that’s a testament of where we are as a country, that it can be so divisive and so volatile. We’re starting to see that more and more since the election. I just haven’t had it directed at me,” she furthers. “I know it’s hard and scary, but at the same time there’s a real problem in this country with social injustice and racism. I think it’s going to take an army of people that are white and privileged to step up and say, ‘No, this is a real thing’ in order for change to happen."

The NFL-wide protest was ignited after President Trump called for NFL players and owners to be fired if they "disrespected" the American flag by taking a knee. Linsey made a statement following the event and subsequent criticism, noting that she would “never normalize hate.”

Linsey was a runner up in season 8 of The Voice and has embraced a soul-pop style since leaving her duo Steel Magnolia.

Country's Not Afraid of Controversy and We Have the Songs to Prove It!