If you're a fan of "The Bachelor," there's no way you've forgotten Chase Rice — the country artist who surprised Pilot Pete by having dated one-on-one concert attendee, Victoria F. Now, Rice is back to making headlines, and this time it's actually serious.
The singer held an outdoor concert over the weekend, and the video he posted to his Instagram story makes it clear that COVID-19 precautions were NOT in effect during the show.
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The footage shows a large, packed crowd of fans standing shoulder to shoulder with no signs of masks or social distancing. According to the venue, they reduced their maximum capacity from 10,000 to 4,000, and less than 1,000 people were in attendance at Rice's Saturday night show. Still, they were reportedly "unable to further enforce the physical distancing recommended in the signage posted across the property" and are looking into "alternative scenarios" to prevent this from happening at future shows that they currently have booked for this summer.
Fellow country star Kelsea Ballerini took to Twitter to express her disappointment in Chase Rice's decision, calling him "selfish enough to put people's health at risk."
Unsurprisingly, Rice has expressed his dislike for quarantining and other COVID-19 precautions in the past, posting an original song to his YouTube channel called "Dear Corona" back in mid-March. The song, through which Rice speaks directly to the coronavirus, includes the lyrics: "We're gonna show up, hold our drinks high, sing the songs 'bout trucks and beer. You're gonna be met with a big f**** you 'cause you ain't welcome here."Chase Rice - Dear CoronaYouTube
Tennessee is one of many U.S. states that has seen an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases. On the Friday before Rice's concert, the state confirmed 1,410 additional cases, setting a new record for the most positive cases within one day and making it the worst week of the pandemic in Tennessee so far.
