Revealed: Why Maren Morris Left 'Toxic' Country Music Scene

Maren Morris is getting candid about distancing herself from country music.

During a Wednesday, October 4, appearance on the "New York Times' Popcast" podcast, the "My Church" vocalist, 33, admitted that she was no longer able to make excuses for her fellow artists' bad behaviors, leaving her to readjust her relationship to the entire community.

"I love living in Nashville, I have my family," she said of the southern city. "There's a reason why people come there from L.A. and New York to write with us. It's because we have amazing songwriters there. That's not gonna change."

"I couldn't do this circus anymore — feeling like l have to absorb and explain people's bad behaviors and laugh it off. I just couldn't do that after 2020, particularly. I've changed. A lot of things changed about me that year," Morris added.

While the chart-topper noted that "leaving country music" may be a bit of an exaggeration, she clarified that she "certainly can't participate in a lot of it" but added she's "OK just doing my own thing. Come with me if you please. Everyone's welcomed!"

Morris publicly condemned fellow singer Morgan Wallen after he was caught using a racial slur in 2021, taking to Twitter to write, "It actually IS representative of our town because this isn't his first 'scuffle,' and he just demolished a huge streaming record last month regardless."

"I underestimated the power of the town and also every broken thing about it — how it protects itself no matter what the cost. That sucked — not because I regret what I said," she said of her comments. "I was cynical. I think rightfully so."

The "I Could Use a Love Song" artist previously made her bold statement about exiting the country music scene due to her advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community and the Black Lives Matter movement in an interview last month.

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"I've always been an asker of questions and a status quo challenger just by being a woman. So it wasn't really even a choice," Morris said. "The further you get into the country music business, that's when you start to see the cracks. And once you see it, you can't un-see it."

Although the musician attempted to advocate for change, she found that it was ignored. "I'm trying to mature here and realize I can just walk away from the parts of this that no longer make me happy," Morris added. "I thought I'd like to burn it to the ground and start over. But it's burning itself down without my help."