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Kelsea Ballerini Denies Shading Lainey Wilson After Losing Best Country Album to Her at 2024 Grammys
It’s all love between country music’s leading ladies! After fans accused Kelsea Ballerini of shading Lainey Wilson at the 2024 Grammys on Sunday, February 4, the “Miss Me More” singer explained what she was really feeling after losing Best Country Album at the show.
“You can be bummed for your loss and happy for somebody else’s win at the same time,” Kelsea, 30, wrote on her Instagram Story on Monday, February 5. “Two things can be true and both hold valid and valuable space. The face reading and reaction analysis is unnecessary and hurtful to everyone. A woman’s win is a team win. Write about that instead?”
Kelsea’s EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat lost Best Country Album to Lainey’s Bell Bottom Country at the award show. After the winner was announced, cameras panned to the Knoxville native in the audience. While she was clapping for Lainey, 31, fans thought that she had a disappointed look on her face and accused her of not being happy for the country newcomer.
This was Lainey’s first-ever win at the Grammys in her first year being nominated. Meanwhile, Kelsea has been nominated four times but has never taken home a trophy.
The “Dibs” songstress surprised fans with the release of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat in February 2023, announcing the album just hours before it came out. The record was inspired by her divorce from Morgan Evans, which was finalized in October 2022.
While she was opening up to the world about her heartbreak, Kelsea was also beginning a new relationship with Outer Banks star Chase Stokes, whom she started dating in January 2023. They went public with their relationship shortly after the release of RUTWM.
With a busy filming schedule, Chase, 31, couldn’t be in Los Angeles to attend the Grammys with his lady. She hit the award show solo, rocking a sheer dress with floral detailing and her hair in a sleek ponytail. Amid the torrential rain in L.A., Kelsea missed the red carpet and had to get out of her car and walk to the Crypto.com Arena due to traffic. She made it just in time to hear her award being announced.
Despite the loss, Kelsea looked like she had a great time at the show, as she mingled with Taylor Swift in the audience and took in a night full of epic performances.
Meanwhile, Lainey was stunned when she won her first Grammy. “I am from a farming community in northeast Louisiana, a little town of 200 people, and I’m a fifth-generation farmer’s daughter, and I would consider myself a farmer too,” she said on stage. “And everybody that I surround myself with, I think they’re farmers too, but they’re story farmers. And it’s about getting up every single day and planting those seeds and watering them and watching them grow. And sometimes when you find the right farming community, you can have a harvest of a lifetime, and I truly believe that and I think that’s exactly what this is tonight.”
