Jana Kramer Responds to Haters After SeaWorld Trip
Jana Kramer simply wanted to share her fun trip to SeaWorld's Discovery Cove with her fans, but instead, she found herself playing defense. The singer took her 13-month-old daughter, Jolie, to the Orlando, Fla., park over the weekend and posted photos on Instagram, but fans didn't respond like Kramer expected.
“I received a lot of criticism by posting this which ultimately made me take it down because, no, I don’t want to upset any of you,” Kramer writes at the start of a lengthy caption. A photo shows her up close and personal with a dolphin in the park. “But here’s the truth … I had an incredible day at @discoverycove and no I haven’t seen the movies ya’lls referenced but what I DID SEE was how amazing they treated these dolphins and I learned so much about each one, met the trainers, and I asked very specific questions as to how they were being taken care of."
The movie Kramer references is Blackfish, a 2013 documentary about SeaWorld's practices with a focus on orcas in captivity and, more specifically, a whale name Tilikum, who was involved in the deaths of three people.
"I'm simply trying to be the best mom I can be and all I wanted was to take my daughter to a place where we could have fun and she could see this beautiful well taken care of creature up close and personal by some amazing and super kind trainers," Kramer continues. "I will be back at @discoverycove...I will also take Jolie to Zoos, I will give her food that's not organic at times, I will feed her meat, whole milk, and I will have a few glasses of wine to myself at the end of the night. If any of you have a problem with how I live my day to day then I'm sorry."
Kramer says that while she realizes she won't be able to please everyone, that's okay because it's really her daughter who is her main concern. "On a side note, seeing Jolie smile when she touched the dolphin by far made my day," she adds.
The release of Blackfish and the controversy surrounding SeaWorld led to major country artists — like Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood and Martina McBride — canceling planned performances at the park's Bands, Brew and BBQ events in 2013 and 2014.
“I don’t agree with the way they treat their animals,” Nelson said at the time, adding that canceling his show, “wasn’t that hard a deal for me.”
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