Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan posing at the judges table on 'American Idol' Season 24

Reality TV News

Carrie Underwood Addresses Lingering ‘American Idol’ Backlash a Year After Controversial Performance

Carrie Underwood faced intense fan backlash after her performance for Donald Trump's inauguration in 2025. Here's how she addressed it in an X post about 'American Idol' filming.

by Lauren Weiler

Published on February 19, 2026

3 min read

Carrie Underwood posted about ‘American Idol’ fans booing her

Carrie Underwood’s performance of America the Beautiful for President Donald Trump’s second inauguration was met with a mix of reactions from fans. The performance took place in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda alongside the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club. And it drew intense public attention for its patriotic intentions. Additionally, a technical malfunction led to her delivering the song a cappella.

Underwood has no regrets regarding her performance. “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” she stated to People in 2025. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”

Unfortunately, in February 2026, she took to X to tell her fans about the unfriendly reactions she received while filming American Idol Season 24. “Spoiler alert … I get booed A LOT from our Hollywood Week audience,” she wrote, tagging the show.

Fans on X continued to slam Underwood for choosing to sing for Trump. Several followers noted that the negative responses shouldn’t surprise her.

Of course, the negative reaction to Underwood during Hollywood Week might have more to do with her feedback to the contestants than her personal performance choices. Fans will have to watch the episode to find out why exactly fans booed her.

‘American Idol’ Season 24 fans will notice several changes for Hollywood Week

As American Idol Season 24 moves past the audition rounds and into Hollywood Week beginning the week of Feb. 23, 2026, one of the most noticeable changes is the location and format of this traditionally pivotal stage of the competition. For the first time, Nashville, Tennessee, hosts Hollywood week rather than Los Angeles. This goes along with the show’s broader shift this season toward embracing the country-music hub and its communities.

What was once a series of intensive solo, group, and head-to-head rounds over multiple episodes has been streamlined into a more concentrated sequence. According to EntertainmentNow, a press release states the show has “one round only as the hopefuls from all musical genres take the stage for a make-or-break performance, facing the biggest Hollywood Week cut in Idol history.”

The round was reportedly filmed in November 2025.

This season also features the new ‘Ohana Round’

American Idol Season 24 executive producer and showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick spoke to Billboard about the changes this season. According to Wolflick, the show has a new “Ohana Round” after Hollywood Week.

“We are doing an extra episode here at Aulani, and it comes after Hollywood Week and before America’s vote,” she said. “Hollywood Week is its own vortex through time and space, so we wanted to see how we could inform the judges about who is resonating with different groups. It’s a social experiment.”

Wolflick described the “Ohana Round” as the “ultimate focus group.” The round features three groups of people and the Idols. “You have the families, and then we’ve curated a select group of influencers and music and industry experts to come in from their point of view,” she said. “I wanted to see who would be the favorite in each of these groups. It’s always interesting — the singer’s singer, it’s a very sensitive thing, like a painter analyzing a painting. The families are the voice of the people.”

“Hollywood Week in Music City” airs on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.