Influencer says Miranda Lambert "embarrassed" her by calling her out — but she just wanted to enjoy the show

A video of Miranda Lambert pausing her concert went viral this week. It shows the singer calling out fans who were taking selfies as she sang, which polarized viewers. An influencer named Adela Calin says she was one of the women who Lambert was talking to — and she was embarrassed and got red in the face.

Video taken at Lambert's Saturday show at Planet Hollywood's Bakkt Theater in Las Vegas shows the singer stop in the middle of her ballad "Tin Man," telling the crowd it was because of selfie-takers. 

"These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song," Lambert says in the video. "It's pissing me off a little bit." The crowd cheers, and Lambert starts the song again. The video, taken by another member of the audience, has received 2.4 million views on TikTok since it was posted on Monday. 

Calin, a Las Vegas-based influencer who has more than 19,000 followers on Instagram, posted several photos from the concert. In one caption, she claims to be the person Lambert was speaking to. 

Calin told CBS News that her friends hadn't specifically chosen the song for their photo opp but took that moment to get a well-lit group photo with Lambert in the background. She said another concertgoer snapped the photo for them and it took a few seconds. The moment immediately afterward – when Lambert called her out – also went by quickly, she said. 

"When it first started to happen and I realized Miranda Lambert was talking to me and my other five friends, I was already in the process of sitting down anyway, but just as I finally sat down, I know I got red in the face. I felt so embarrassed," she said. "I was thinking, 'This is like being back at school and me and my friends did something that annoyed the teacher and now she's telling us to sit down."

She said four of her friends decided to leave the concert. "Me and another friend, we were just so determined to enjoy our night," she said. "I was like, 'It's Saturday night, I just want to have a good time. I don't care if the performer is having a bad night, I'm going to enjoy it.'" 

Calin said there were thousands of people there who also took pictures, and she guessed Lambert was just making an example out of them after being annoyed by all the photo-taking.

She said while many people cheered when Lambert called them out, others booed and even walked out of the show. Over the past few days, Calin has received a barrage of online messages about the viral video. 

"I would say 99.99% of the messages that I received are sympathizing about what happened to me and my friends," she said, adding that fellow concertgoers sent her videos and photos they took that night to show their solidarity. 

In the past, Bruno Mars has asked fans not to take phones out at his shows, including a 2022 concert in Las Vegas, according to the LA Times. "I think [Lambert] needs to decide if she is ok with her fans taking pictures and videos and if she's not ok, she just needs to do a policy like Bruno Mars does," Calin said. 

CBS News has reached out to a rep for Miranda Lambert and is awaiting a response. 

Caitlin O'Kane

Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.