Sammy Kershaw, a Nineties country singer, caused an uproar ahead of the CMA Awards and elicited a response from the org, but is this really what we're getting so worked up over?

The CMA Awards have seen their share of controversies over their 60-year history, from Charlie Rich protesting John Denver’s Entertainer of the Year win in 1975 by lighting the envelope on fire, to the organization’s heavy-handed edict trying to forbid journalists from asking questions about gun violence after the 2017 Route 91 shooting.

Now, ahead of its Nov. 18 telecast, the Country Music Association’s tentpole awards show is weathering criticism from one of its own. Last week, Sammy Kershaw , the Nineties hitmaker known for songs like “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” and “Third Rate Romance,” and a lifetime CMA member, stirred up controversy — mostly benign, as these things go — when he took the org to task for allegedly not allowing him and his wife access to the media red carpet before the show.…