Jana Kramer Defends Taking Her Daughter to Discovery Cove Amid Backlash

"I'm simply doing the best I can," the country singer writes on Instagram

By Zach Johnson Mar 27, 2017 12:15 PMTags

A post shared by Jana Kramer (@kramergirl) on

It's not easy being in a mom on social media.

After recently becoming a paid Diamond Resorts ambassador, country musician and former Dancing With the Stars competitor Jana Kramer took her 13-month-old daughter Jolie Caussin to Discovery Cove in Orlando over the weekend. Kramer shared their experience by taking her 1.3 million Instagram followers along on their visit to the amusement park, which is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. "Introducing Jolie to our new little friend @discoverycove," she wrote. "Thanks to @diamondresorts for treating us to this experience!"

Kramer was first condemned for removing her wetsuit and exposing her bikini. In response to one of her followers, the 33-year-old singer said, "I was hot. Anything else u want to criticize?!" In the same photo, Kramer and Cuassin were admiring a nearby armadillo on the beach. One Instagram user warned Kramer that the animal "could cause leprosy," which sent a few of her other followers into a panic. Not that they needed to worry: As of 2015, 95 percent of people are immune to the disease, although there are around 150 to 200 new cases a year in the U.S.

Unfortunately for Kramer, that was only the beginning.

In Kramer's second photo—which she deleted and later republished—fans advised her to watch the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which showed the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity. While SeaWorld initially called Blackfish "inaccurate and misleading," it announced plans to end killer-whale shows at its San Diego theme park in November 2015. Five months later, SeaWorld vowed it would also end its orca breeding program and phase out live performances with orcas.

Still, some fans were upset to see Kramer would support Discovery Cove at all. One fan argued that dolphins "are meant to be wild in the sea and swim for miles a day," while another claimed they were "stolen from their mothers as babies" and "forced" to behave in a docile manner. While some followers were supportive of Kramer, she decided to address the backlash herself.

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A post shared by Jana Kramer (@kramergirl) on

"Okay you know what....I'm posting this picture again. I received a lot of criticism by posting this which ultimately made me take it down because no I don't want to upset any of you," wrote Kramer, who stars in the Hallmark movie Love at First Bark. "But here's the truth...I had an incredible day at @discoverycove and no I haven't seen the movies yalls referenced but what I DID SEE was how amazing they treated these dolphins and I learned so much about each one, met the trainers, and I asked very specific questions as to how they were being taken care of.

"Do I feel sad that they should be in the wild, sure, but they are being loved there and they are getting fed and quite frankly I'm not going to NOT post something because I'm at the zoo or wherever I go. I don't preach politics or try to shove my beliefs on any of you," the single mom wrote in her Instagram post. "I'm simply trying to be the best mom I can be and all I wanted was to take my daughter to a place where we could have fun and she could see this beautiful well taken care of creature up close and personal by some amazing and super kind trainers."

"I will be back at @discoverycove...I will also take Jolie to Zoos, I will give her food that's not organic at times, I will feed her meat, whole milk, and I will have a few glasses of wine to myself at the end of the night. If any of you have a problem with how I live my day to day then I'm sorry. I'm simply doing the best I can. I will not be able to please every one of you. I do know my true fans will be there and from one mom to another we all know we are doing the best we can," she said, adding, "Seeing Jolie smile when she touched the dolphin by far made my day."

Kramer ended her note with "peace and love."