Carrie Underwood Hits Back at ‘American Idol’ Fans Booing Her on Show

American Idol judge Carrie Underwood has said she “doesn’t care” about being booed by the show’s audience because her critiques are fair and for the benefit of the contestants.

The former Idol winner faced a harsh response from the live audience back in March when she criticized a performance by contestant Mor, who took to the stage to sing an original song without a backing band. At the time, Underwood told the audience, “Bring it on. I love it. Your boos are feeding me.”

On the latest episode of the American Idol podcast, host Danielle Fishel sat down with Underwood and fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie to ask the “Jesus, Take the Wheel” singer about the negative reaction.

“You gave some very constructive criticism about some moments that you thought were very magical and then maybe some moments where it wasn’t so good, and you got booed,” Fishel said, per People.

“I don’t care,” Underwood fired back.

Before the country singer gave a proper answer, Bryan came to her defense, saying that giving criticism as a judge is a “tough” thing to do. “It takes a lot of confidence in yourself, and you don’t want to say something that’s going to tank them in the competition,” he said. “It’s just something that they need to be thinking about if they go forward.”

Related

'American Idol' Top 11 & Judges' Song Contest Winner Revealed

Bryan also defended Underwood at the time, telling the live audience, “She only won this… She knows,” referring to the singer’s 2005 Idol victory.

Underwood explained, “I can’t lie, I’m a terrible liar,” and she wouldn’t be being true to herself if she gave false praise. “As a fan of the show, if there was ever somebody that kind of had an off night and everybody’s like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so great.’ I’m sitting at home being like, ‘What? Liars!’ You want them to pay attention to those things going forward.”

“They’re obviously talented, or they wouldn’t be here right now,” she added.