--- title: Meghan Linsey Gets Death Threats for Kneeling After Anthem description: Country singer Meghan Linsey of The Voice and Can You Duet fame took a knee after performing the national anthem at a Sunday NFL game canonical: https://time.com/4963517/meghan-linsey-take-a-knee-national-anthem/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-29T20:25:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:40:06.377Z article:section: Sports og:title: Singer Meghan Linsey Received Death Threats After Kneeling at NFL Game og:description: The former 'The Voice' and 'Can You Duet' star kneeled after performing the national anthem og:url: https://time.com/4963517/meghan-linsey-take-a-knee-national-anthem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c5b3c27941d06d8/6988e00c86f68e85d46e6a50/meghan-linsey-the-voice.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Voice - Season 8 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Singer Meghan Linsey Received Death Threats After Kneeling at NFL Game twitter:description: The former 'The Voice' and 'Can You Duet' star kneeled after performing the national anthem twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c5b3c27941d06d8/6988e00c86f68e85d46e6a50/meghan-linsey-the-voice.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Voice_ Singer Meghan Linsey Says She Received Death Threats After Kneeling at NFL Game by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 29, 2017 8:25 PM UTC  THE VOICE -- "Live Finals" Episode 818A -- Pictured: (l-r) Meghan Linsey, Blake Shelton THE VOICE -- "Live Finals" Episode 818A -- Pictured: (l-r) Meghan Linsey, Blake SheltonNBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 29, 2017 8:25 PM UTC Country singer Meghan Linsey of [_The Voice_](http://time.com/4776961/kelly-clarkson-the-voice-season-14/) and _Can You Duet_ fame [took a knee](http://time.com/4955391/pharrell-williams-kneels-charlottesville-concert/) after performing the national anthem at a Sunday NFL game between the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks. Then she got death threats. Linsey said she anticipated backlash [in an interview with the _Tennessean_.](http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/09/28/national-anthem-protests-meghan-linsey-gets-death-threats-after-taking-knee-titans-seahawks/714726001/) There is a lot of controversy surrounding the [act meant to protest police brutality](http://time.com/4924420/colin-kaepernick-nfl-football-boycott/), which was popularized by quarterback [Colin Kaepernick.](http://time.com/4924420/colin-kaepernick-nfl-football-boycott/) The furor only escalated after [President Donald Trump criticized players and the league last week.](http://time.com/4954684/donald-trump-nfl-speech-anthem-protests/) But she did not expect the threats to be so hateful — like letters wishing that she would get cancer. “I’ve been waking up with anxiety a lot and it’s hard to eat food and sleep, but other than that, I’m good,” Linsey told the paper Thursday. “I feel like I did the right thing. I don’t have any regrets. “It wasn’t a matter of standing against our flag or our military,” she continued. “I was standing up for a cause that I believe in. I think that’s a testament of where we are as a country, that it can be so divisive and so volatile. We’re starting to see that more and more since the election. I just haven’t had it directed at me.” Linsey, the runner-up on the eighth season of _The Voice_ and former member of country duo Steel Magnolia, took solace in the fact that others reached out to her with messages of support. Despite country music being a genre that tends to have more politically conservative listeners, she believes that many in the country community share her beliefs. “I know it’s hard and scary, but at the same time there’s a real problem in this country with social injustice and racism,” she said. “I think it’s going to take an army of people that are white and privileged to step up and say, ‘No, this is a real thing’ in order for change to happen.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4963517/meghan-linsey-take-a-knee-national-anthem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4963517/meghan-linsey-take-a-knee-national-anthem/"},"headline":"The Voice Singer Meghan Linsey Says She Received Death Threats After Kneeling at NFL Game","datePublished":"2017-09-29T20:25:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:40:06.377Z","description":"Though shaken up, she remains optimistic","url":"https://time.com/4963517/meghan-linsey-take-a-knee-national-anthem/","keywords":["Football","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c5b3c27941d06d8/6988e00c86f68e85d46e6a50/meghan-linsey-the-voice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c5b3c27941d06d8/6988e00c86f68e85d46e6a50/meghan-linsey-the-voice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Voice - Season 8","caption":"The Voice - Season 8","creditText":"NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/football/","name":"Football"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4963517/meghan-linsey-take-a-knee-national-anthem/","name":"The Voice Singer Meghan Linsey Says She Received Death Threats After Kneeling at NFL Game"}}]}] ```