It is June 26, 2019, and I\u2019m sitting in my seat at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, for Kacey Musgraves\u2019 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\u2019m really excited because we both love the singer\u2019s music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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, \u201cGolden Hour,\u201d called \u201cRainbow.\u201d Given that I\u2019m queer, and it\u2019s 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\u2019s a hopeful, beautiful song about helping someone through depression, and I relate deeply to the lyrics. I can\u2019t wait to hear her perform it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2019ve been, to use one of his expressions, \u201cdreading forward to it\u201d for months. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I have generalized anxiety, and new situations are always daunting. But I\u2019m 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 <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> an easy venue to navigate if you\u2019re mobility challenged. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I have a placard to use for handicapped parking, so I can take a bus to the part of the amphitheater where we\u2019re 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. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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 \u201cjust lose weight,\u201d because <\/span>duh<\/span><\/em>, why haven\u2019t I ever thought of that?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n She opens the show with \u201c<\/span>Slow Burn<\/span>,\u201d 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. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s so exaggerated \u2015 and completely unnecessary, since there\u2019s no one next to her friend. Several open seats remain. She\u2019s 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\u2019t. 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. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photo Courtesy Of Juliet James<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In May 2026, Musgraves\u2019 new album \u201c<\/span>Middle of Nowhere\u201d<\/span> was released. The first single, \u201c<\/span>Dry Spell<\/span>,\u201d is already a massive hit, and it\u2019s been living rent-free in my head for days on end. I think this is her best work since \u201cGolden Hour,\u201d and I\u2019m even debating going to see her in Denver when she\u2019s here in October. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n My mobility issues have gotten worse, and I use a motorized wheelchair when I\u2019m 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\u2019d be judged by people who assume I\u2019m just \u201clazy,\u201d when it\u2019s actually that I\u2019m in more pain than they could imagine, but also because I\u2019m a notorious klutz. I\u2019m worried about crashing it. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But after a few outings with it, I\u2019m starting to feel more confident. And the advantage of having it at a concert is that I don\u2019t have to worry about a too-small seat. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Then, one morning on Threads, I see a post<\/a> 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?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019ve followed Megan for years, and I really respect her activism and perspective, so I immediately go to figure out what I\u2019ve missed. And that\u2019s when I realize Megan\u2019s talking about Kacey Musgraves.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Megan recently called out the Kacey Lee collaboration <\/a>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\u2019t take long for Musgraves herself to comment on Ixim\u2019s post, and I\u2019m so disappointed when I see the interaction<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHiii not in my control at all. Sorry you\u2019re disappointed. Hope this helps!\u201d Musgraves responded, followed by a heart emoji.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u2019t be able to find a shirt in my size, and I\u2019m disappointed for all the Musgraves fans who heard about this launch, but soon discovered that it doesn\u2019t actually include them. I\u2019m more disappointed, though, that they will undoubtedly see how little the singer cares about the issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She could\u2019ve chosen to just ignore the Instagram post. Instead, the response is, <\/span>Welp, sorry you\u2019re disappointed<\/span><\/em>, followed by the claim it\u2019s not in her control at all, and rather condescendingly ends with, \u201chope this helps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Actually, Kacey, it doesn\u2019t help at all. But, since \u201chope this helps\u201d is rarely used sincerely, I\u2019m pretty sure she knows that.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Before long, the story was picked up by other outlets, from People magazine to the Daily Mail. While plenty of people \u2015 myself included \u2015 deeply appreciate Megan\u2019s 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\u2019s received in a <\/span>post<\/span><\/a> where she points out that \u201cit\u2019s all connected.\u201d Because it is. Fashion, morality, fat hatred, living in a fascist timeline, the incredibly shrinking woman trend\u2026 It\u2019s all connected. To be clear, I am not suggesting Musgraves be canceled (and Megan tells me she isn\u2019t, 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\u2019t know. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n What I do know is that it\u2019s important to hold people accountable. It\u2019s disappointing, if not terribly surprising, to find out that a thin celeb couldn\u2019t care less about her fat fans. Because it\u2019s Musgraves\u2019 name on this collab, and she absolutely could have insisted that all the items, or at least most of them, include plus sizes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u2019t included. It\u2019s not only demoralizing, but it\u2019s also infuriating, especially when it\u2019s a store (like Walmart) where plus-sized shoppers have generally had better luck finding clothing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Kacey could\u2019ve just ignored Megan\u2019s post, and not replied at all \u2015 and honestly, that would\u2019ve been better than what she did say. But what would\u2019ve been truly awesome in this situation is even an ounce of compassion. Something like, \u201c<\/span>You know, you\u2019re right, and next time I do collab, I will see to it that it\u2019s more inclusive<\/span><\/em>.\u201d She had an opportunity to show her thin fans that her fat fans matter to her. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Do you have a compelling personal story you\u2019d like to see published on celebrity.land? Find out what we\u2019re looking for here<\/a> and send us a pitch at pitch@celebrity.land.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/6a1702791600006853c19dd5.jpg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
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