Former “American Idol” sweetheart Carrie Underwood vexed some viewers all season long with her perceived disinterest in certain contestants. That sentiment remained prevalent when season 23 winner Jamal Roberts was announced on May 18.
The idol alum, who won the competition in 2005, returned as a judge this year alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. All three of the superstars gave the elementary school teacher a standing ovation as it was revealed that 26 million selected Roberts as the next superstar —a show record — over Underwood’s fave, John Foster.
However, discourse erupted online after viewers noticed the country music singer was seated during Roberts’ final performance of Anthony Hamilton’s “Her Heart.” Both Richie and Bryan remained standing as the Mississippi native belted out the ballad. An X user theorized that when Underwood did hop to her feet, it was not of her own volition.
That person’s tweet read, “Not Carrie Underwood sitting down and probably being told to stand up when Jamal won.” The flood of reactions to the “Before He Cheats” singer included comments recalling her critique of the winner’s stage presence in a previous episode.
Underwood told Roberts that he missed an opportunity to “move around and entertain” when he sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
One of her critics quipped, “Carrie Underwood telling Jamal to move around more yet praised the other dude who stood still as well smh. The hate was written on her face from the moment he stepped on stage.”
His win was even more important last night, considering how much Carrie Underwood seemingly didn’t like him! 26 million votes made her look stupid. Congrats Jamal! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 https://t.co/uF17vxVaQf
— MiddleNameDwayne (@DwayneJay) May 19, 2025
Underwood later posted a photo of her and Roberts after his victory. She captioned it, “I’m so proud of @officialjamalroberts and all he has accomplished this season and I can’t wait to see what mountains he climbs next! He’s going to do great things!”
But Instagram users were not convinced that her happiness was genuine after witnessing her reaction during the live thee-hour finale. One person commented, “Girl you shaded him… but carry on. Congratulations Jamal, you TRULY deserved this.” And a second spectator remarked, “She took this picture for the internet. She definitely did NOT want him to win!!”
In a second post, shared on May 21, Underwood gave another nod to the young man in the most unexpected way. She revealed her family welcomed a baby lamb to their farm on the day of the finale, so they named him Jamal.
According to a purported show insider, “it was not a unanimous decision” among show producers to have Underwood as judge. Some fans hope this will be her first and final season. “Get rid of her…send her back to trump! I won’t listen to her music again,” declared someone on Threads.
Her presence on “American Idol” came with heightened scrutiny and viewer boycotts after she performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. Underwood, dubbed a “MAGA girlie” by some, has not addressed the backlash publicly.
