Editing Natalie Maines (section)

=== Feud with Toby Keith ===
Maines had a public feud with fellow country music superstar [[Toby Keith]] over the 2002 chart-topping country hit "[[Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue]]", as well as a comment Maines made about U.S. President George W. Bush during a March 2003 Dixie Chicks concert in London.

Maines publicly criticized Keith's song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" by saying, "I hate it. It's ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture—and not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact. Anybody can write, 'We'll put a boot in your ass.'"<ref>''LA Daily News''. (August 8, 2002) [http://www.top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=3488 Natalie Maines (Dixie Chick member) Bashes Toby Keith's Patriotic Anthem]. Retrieved March 17, 2007.</ref> Keith responded by belittling Maines's songwriting skills with, "I'll bury her. She has never written anything that has been a hit"<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-5-2003-41299.asp | archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090316001744/http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-5-2003-41299.asp | url-status=usurped | archive-date=2009-03-16 | title=Dixie Chicks vs. Toby Keith }}</ref> and, "That's what I do—I write songs."<ref>CMT.com. (December 6, 2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20040417102749/http://www.cmt.com/artists/news/1459027/12062002/keith_toby.jhtml Toby Keith Reacts to Maines's Comments in Upcoming CMT.com Interview]. Retrieved March 17, 2007.</ref>

After Maines commented at a March 2003 Dixie Chicks concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre in London that the Dixie Chicks didn't want the [[Iraq War]] and were "ashamed" President Bush "was from Texas", Keith's 2003 "[[Shock'n Y'all]]" tour began displaying a backdrop showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref name="BBCfreshrow">BBC News. (June 3, 2003) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2958450.stm Fresh Dixie Chicks row erupts]. Retrieved March 17, 2007.</ref> Shortly thereafter, on May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "F.U.T.K." written on the front while performing for the [[Academy of Country Music|Academy of Country Music Awards]] broadcast.<ref name="BBCfreshrow" /> The Dixie Chicks website stated that the letters stood for "Freedom, United, Together in Kindness".<ref>Wolf, Buck. (April 26, 2005) [https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=720819 Hilton vs. Richie: When Celebs Duke It Out – 7. Dixie Chicks vs. Toby Keith] ABC News. Retrieved March 20, 2007.</ref> Many in the country music industry saw it as a veiled insult directed at Keith.<ref name="BBCfreshrow" /> The audience at the award show also booed the Dixie Chicks numerous times, the loudest being when their nomination for the Entertainer of the Year award was read out, Toby Keith subsequently won the award. <ref name="BBC Awards">BBC News. (May 22 2003)[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3049209.stm Dixie Chicks booed at music awards]. Retrieved September 19 2024.</ref>

In the 2006 documentary ''[[Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing]]'', backstage footage prior to her appearance wearing the F.U.T.K. shirt recorded the conversation between Maines and Simon Renshaw and confirmed that the original intent of the shirt was in response to Keith's criticism of her: the letters stood for "Fuck You Toby Keith".<ref name="Kopple" /> As of January 2007, Keith continued to refuse to say Maines's name and argues that the doctored photos displayed during his concerts were intended to express his feeling that Maines's criticism was tyrannical and a dictator-like attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.<ref>Guzman, Rafer. (January 28, 2007)
[http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/ny-ettoby0128,0,6077773.story?coll=ny-music-headlines Toby Keith, angry American]. Retrieved March 18, 2007.  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516110755/http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/ny-ettoby0128%2C0%2C6077773.story?coll=ny-music-headlines |date=May 16, 2007 }}</ref>