Kacey Musgraves’ Reply To Walmart Line Criticism Missed The Mark

It is June 26, 2019, and I’m sitting in my seat at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, for Kacey Musgraves’ Oh, What A World tour, my first concert in over 10 years. My husband and I have never been to a concert together before, and I’m really excited because we both love the singer’s music.

I spent over an hour on my makeup, and I am tremendously pleased with the results. Musgraves has a song on her then most recent album, “Golden Hour,” called “Rainbow.” Given that I’m queer, and it’s Pride, and that song is certainly going to be performed tonight, I leaned heavily into the rainbow theme with my makeup. I bought a rainbow scarf, and even added a headband of faux rainbow flowers. It’s a hopeful, beautiful song about helping someone through depression, and I relate deeply to the lyrics. I can’t wait to hear her perform it.

Despite all of this excited anticipation, I am also a ball of nerves inside. This concert was an anniversary gift from my husband Thomas back in April, and I’ve been, to use one of his expressions, “dreading forward to it” for months.

I have generalized anxiety, and new situations are always daunting. But I’m also fat, and existing in the world as a fat person is fraught with complications. On top of that, I have fibromyalgia, and have been in pain every day of my life for nearly two decades. Red Rocks, while breathtaking, is not an easy venue to navigate if you’re mobility challenged.

I have a placard to use for handicapped parking, so I can take a bus to the part of the amphitheater where we’re sitting, and that was a relief. But I am also anxious because this is bench seating, and I worry that the person sitting next to me will be unhappy about it. These are fabulous seats, and the show is sold out.

I think about how I wish getting a T-shirt to commemorate the show was an option, but I know they absolutely will not have my size. Eventually, I will order a poster from the show online, but the sorrow is still there, and I know that if I say anything about this publicly, some internet troll will come in to tell me to “just lose weight,” because duh, why haven’t I ever thought of that?

She opens the show with “Slow Burn,” and not long after, my seat neighbor and her friend show up. When she sits down, I say hi and smile. She ignores me, and I know precisely what that means. I try not to let her get to me, but she makes such a point of being sure to stay far, far away from me.

It’s so exaggerated ― and completely unnecessary, since there’s no one next to her friend. Several open seats remain. She’s in no actual danger of having to touch me. I force myself to ignore her, refusing to let her ruin my night. And she doesn’t. Any time I hear one of the songs from that show, I am immediately back in that beautiful summer night, transported in that magical way only music seems to do.

In May 2026, Musgraves’ new album “Middle of Nowhere” was released. The first single, “Dry Spell,” is already a massive hit, and it’s been living rent-free in my head for days on end. I think this is her best work since “Golden Hour,” and I’m even debating going to see her in Denver when she’s here in October.

My mobility issues have gotten worse, and I use a motorized wheelchair when I’m going to be anywhere that requires a lot of walking. Accepting I needed this to continue to live my best life was not easy, both because I knew I’d be judged by people who assume I’m just “lazy,” when it’s actually that I’m in more pain than they could imagine, but also because I’m a notorious klutz. I’m worried about crashing it.

But after a few outings with it, I’m starting to feel more confident. And the advantage of having it at a concert is that I don’t have to worry about a too-small seat.

Then, one morning on Threads, I see a post from Latina fat influencer Megan Ixim (@msgigggles), talking about how a world-famous pop star basically told her to go fuck herself, and I was immediately, like, wait, whaaaat?

I’ve followed Megan for years, and I really respect her activism and perspective, so I immediately go to figure out what I’ve missed. And that’s when I realize Megan’s talking about Kacey Musgraves.

Megan recently called out the Kacey Lee collaboration between Musgraves, Lee Jeans, and Walmart for not including extended sizes in-store, and for having extended sizes for only a few items in the collection. It didn’t take long for Musgraves herself to comment on Ixim’s post, and I’m so disappointed when I see the interaction.

“Hiii not in my control at all. Sorry you’re disappointed. Hope this helps!” Musgraves responded, followed by a heart emoji.

When I reached out to Megan, she pointed out that in a collection of over 100 items, there are more pieces for dogs than for plus-sized people. I think back to that concert where I knew I wouldn’t be able to find a shirt in my size, and I’m disappointed for all the Musgraves fans who heard about this launch, but soon discovered that it doesn’t actually include them. I’m more disappointed, though, that they will undoubtedly see how little the singer cares about the issue.

She could’ve chosen to just ignore the Instagram post. Instead, the response is, Welp, sorry you’re disappointed, followed by the claim it’s not in her control at all, and rather condescendingly ends with, “hope this helps.”

Actually, Kacey, it doesn’t help at all. But, since “hope this helps” is rarely used sincerely, I’m pretty sure she knows that.

Before long, the story was picked up by other outlets, from People magazine to the Daily Mail. While plenty of people ― myself included ― deeply appreciate Megan’s perspective on the issue, unfortunately, any time a fat person with a platform goes viral, it comes with a fuckton of hate. A couple of days after the initial kerfuffle, Megan shared some of the nasty and fatphobic comments she’s received in a post where she points out that “it’s all connected.” Because it is. Fashion, morality, fat hatred, living in a fascist timeline, the incredibly shrinking woman trend… It’s all connected. To be clear, I am not suggesting Musgraves be canceled (and Megan tells me she isn’t, either!). In fact, her music is playing through my headset as I write this. I will always enjoy her music, but will I feel as compelled to go to her concert? I don’t know.

What I do know is that it’s important to hold people accountable. It’s disappointing, if not terribly surprising, to find out that a thin celeb couldn’t care less about her fat fans. Because it’s Musgraves’ name on this collab, and she absolutely could have insisted that all the items, or at least most of them, include plus sizes.

Someone who has always been thin has no idea what it feels like to go to a store, or even to go online, only to see that their size isn’t included. It’s not only demoralizing, but it’s also infuriating, especially when it’s a store (like Walmart) where plus-sized shoppers have generally had better luck finding clothing.

Kacey could’ve just ignored Megan’s post, and not replied at all ― and honestly, that would’ve been better than what she did say. But what would’ve been truly awesome in this situation is even an ounce of compassion. Something like, “You know, you’re right, and next time I do collab, I will see to it that it’s more inclusive.” She had an opportunity to show her thin fans that her fat fans matter to her.

I still wait for the day when a famous person is called out for a lack of inclusivity and responds in a way that is empathetic, shows a desire to learn, and gives their fat fans any sense that they matter to them. In the meantime, I will continue to talk about these issues and celebrate people like Megan who use their platforms to promote real inclusivity.

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