Maren Morris clarifies she's not leaving country music, just the 'toxic parts'

Maren Morris will always have love for country music.

Appearing on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" Wednesday, the singer took a beat to clarify her past comments about leaving country music.

The "Chasing After You" singer said she has "not left country music" completely.

"That was the headline," Morris said after a fan asked what her music would sound like moving forward. "Actually, what I said was I'm leaving behind the sort of toxic parts of it. I want to take the good parts with me."

She said that fans don't "label" music much anymore anyway, but the country genre will always be a part of her.

"I'm from Texas, I grew up on all that music, so the way I write, the way I sing, that's what comes out — whatever genre I’m doing or feature I'm doing," she said.

During the interview, Morris said she has been working on new music with Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoff, also a frequent Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey collaborator. Antonoff co-produced her "The Bridge" track "Get the Hell Out of Here."

The interview largely centered on music and drama on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," sidestepping Morris' own relationship. Morris filed for divorce from husband Ryan Hurd after five years of marriage last month.

Morris first opened up about her thoughts on the country music industry in September, telling the Los Angeles Times that the industry is unwilling to own up to its history of racism and misogyny and to be more accepting of women, queer people and people of color. "I thought I'd like to burn it to the ground and start over," she said to the outlet. "But it's burning itself down without my help."

In a podcast interview, Morris discussed stepping away from the genre further.

"I'm not shutting off fans of country music, or that's not my intention," she told the hosts of the The New York Times "Popcast" in October.

"There's rarely any women in any of the big categories," she said of country awards shows "There's like no people of color nominated at all."

Morris also discussed speaking out against the actions of country music peers, like Jason Aldean and Morgan Wallen. "It's terrifying to do what I've done," she said.

Contributing: Audrey Gibbs and Diana Leyva, Nashville Tennessean

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