Fans of Wicked star Ariana Grande loved her seemingly throwing shade at Carrie Underwood's flubbed performance at Republican President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony on Monday.
For her "America the Beautiful" performance, Underwood experienced technical difficulties inside the Capitol rotunda where Trump was sworn in for his second non-consecutive term in the White House.
The American Idol alum stood in awkward silence in front of the new administration and other political leaders for nearly two minutes as the pre-recorded backing track experienced false starts.
She eventually mouthed the words, “I’ll just sing it," to a person in a headset and sang the patriotic tune a cappella after addressing the crowd, “If you know the words, help me out here.”
Though Underwood did her best under the circumstances, her performance received lackluster reviews on social media, including one from an Instagrammer who mentioned former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Drag Race's Coco Montrese.
Writer Evan Ross Katz shared a snapshot of Underwood, mic in hand, with Harris in the background appearing to muster enough enthusiasm to sing along.
In the post's caption, Katz observed:
"Kamala Harris evoking Coco Montrese ('Girl, find the note') watching Carrie Underwood at today’s chilling Inauguration."
The Coco Montrese comment referred to the drag performer's confessional in RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2 when she dragged fellow contestant Phi Phi O’Hara, suggesting she needed to “find the note” when singing a cappella during a talent show challenge.
The post received thousands of likes, including one from Grande.
The "Thank U, Next" singer's casual engagement with the post instantly signaled to Arianators that their idol hurled some major shade at Underwood without words.
Social media ran with this hot take.
The internet cattiness had fans of Underwood defending her.
Underwood lost a significant portion of her LGBTQ+ fanbase after it was revealed she would be singing at Trump's inauguration.
Many in the community felt they were being invalidated and abandoned, especially after Underwood had previously expressed support for LGBTQ+ causes before the legalization of same-sex marriage.
A disappointed Instagrammer wrote:
“Don’t ever call yourself an LGBTQ ally again, you’re supporting the man that wants to abolish LGBTQ rights, you should be ashamed."
Her anthemic 2018 ballad "Love Wins" was also interpreted as a positive reinforcement of her support for marginalized groups whose rights are repeatedly under attack by the MAGA mob.
In his inauguration speech as the 47th President, Trump declared that the “golden age of America begins right now” and he would "Very simply, put America first."
As part of that endeavor, Trump mentioned several executive orders that would be effective immediately, including the scrapping of DEI initiatives.
His administration ordered all federal employees in diversity, equity, and inclusion roles to pack their bags no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to a memo from the Office of Personnel Management.
The employees would be on paid administrative leave while agencies prepare to shut down all DEI-related offices and programs.
Trump also said that the U.S. would only recognize two genders, "male and female" and would end “the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
