'I'm not going to blame country music': John Legend weighs in on Beyonce racism controversy... but doesn't fault CMAs for 'editing her out'

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It's not country music that's racist; it's America.

So said John Legend as he weighed into the Beyonce / CMA debate on Friday.

The singer told TMZ that the Country Music Awards were not at fault when they erased any social media mention of Bey's performance with the Dixie Chicks during Wednesday's ceremony.

'I'm not going to blame country music': John Legend weighed in on the Beyonce racism controversy... but doesn't blame CMAs for 'editing her out'

'There's a problem with racism in America; I'm not going to blame country music for it,' he said.

'I know a lot of great country music artists and writers, I don't think it's their issue. I think it's an American issue.

'It's why we have a racist candidate with 45 per cent of the vote,' he added. 'That's America.'

After the frankly fantastic rendition of Daddy Lessons, there was a surprise racist backlash on social media, as a number of trolls questioned Beyonce's place at the award show because of her 'anti law enforcement' support of Black Lives Matter movement.

Correct: The singer told TMZ that the Country Music Awards were not at fault when they erased any social media mention of Bey's performance with the Dixie Chicks during Wednesday's ceremony 

The CMAs immediately pulled all mention of the performance from social media, and then faced more criticism when they backpedaled in a single Facebook post. 

But Legend defended the CMA's decision.

'They probably weren't used to getting that much hate of their site and probably wanted to scrub it of the hate,' he said.

'But obviously the CMAs weren't being racist by including Beyonce... the people that were being mad about her were being racist.'

Shock: After the frankly fantastic rendition of Daddy Lessons, there was a surprise racist backlash on social media, as a number of trolls questioned Beyonce's place at the award show because of her 'anti law enforcement' support of Black Lives Matter movement (thanks in part to her Black-Panther-inspired Super Bowl performance)

Racism: This was just one many racist comments directed at Beyonce after her performance on the CMAs. The CMAs then deleted all references to the set from its social media accounts

'Disgrace': Another user echoed those thoughts, adding that it wasn't about Beyonce being a pop star in a country show. The Dixie Chicks also took flack for criticizing Donald Trump

'Dumb': One angry user commented on the Facebook repost that the set was a 'dumb idea' and said Beyonce was 'against law enforcement' and the Dixie Chicks were 'against America'

The night before, actress Rose McGowan strongly disagreed, claiming the CMAs were 'a bunch of chicken sh*ts'.

'They need to stand up to a bunch of rednecks. Who cares if they like country music? They can go f*ck themselves,' she said.

'You don't punish women; you punish perpetrators. Chicken sh*ts.'

As for the racist fans themselves: 'Those people need to fall off the planet. Bye deplorables! See ya. They need to suck it because black lives do matter.'

Cowrdly: The night before, actress Rose McGowan strongly disagreed, claiming the CMAs were 'a bunch of chicken sh*ts' 

On Friday night, country singer Kenny Chesney shot back the Beyonce fans who accused him of pulling a face during her performance.

'I love Beyonce... I loved her Super Bowl performance, her sense of how to make the music hit really hard — and give it drama when she's onstage.' 

He added that the Beyhive shouldn't be so quick to judge him or assume to know what he was thinking.

Fan: On Friday night, country singer Kenny Chesney shot back the Beyonce fans who accused him of pulling a face during her performance