Throwin’ a little shade…
On Wednesday, the Grand Ole Orpy celebrated their centennial anniversary with an NBC special, Opry 100: A Live Celebration. They obviously had tons of country legends and current stars on hand to help honor the history of the Opry, and there were some really great performances, actually.
But one performance in particular might’ve had a double meaning…
Carly Pearce took the stage to perform Dolly Parton’s hit “Jolene,” which was a highlight of the night (though the videos aren’t all available on social media yet), and apparently she was singing to someone particular. She went through a very public divorce from fellow country singer Michael Ray in 2020 after being married for less than a year, and her album 29: Written in Stone was mostly about the heartbreak of that whole experience.
Since then, they’ve both dated other people, but following their divorce, Michael started dating Tyler Tritt, the daughter of ’90s country star Travis Tritt. They’ve since broken up, and I don’t really know anything about the details of the relationship other than knowing they used to post about each other on occasion. And I definitely don’t know anything about timelines or when they became official, but they shared pictures together within a month or two of the divorce being final.
There’s never been any official, public confirmation of cheating from either side, but there’s seemingly some bad blood between Carly and Tyler, as Carly had a helluva response for a fan on X who asked about wanting to see Travis’ daughter Tyler during Carly’s performance of “Jolene,” rather than seeing during Travis’ performance of “T.R.O.U.B.L.E.” with Post Malone:
Got in to some T.R.O.U.B.L.E. tonight with @PostMalone at the @opry #Opry100 pic.twitter.com/YbYsa2Xy0q
— Travis Tritt (@TravisTritt) March 20, 2025
Here’s the tweet:
“They finally put a camera on Travis Tritt’s daughter when Post Malone was on. I wanted to see her when Carly Pearce sang ‘Jolene.’”
They finally put a camera on Travis Tritt’s daughter when Post Malone was on. I wanted to see her when Carly Pearce sang “Jolene”. 🤣🤣 #Opry100
— Spring is on the way! 🌸🌷 (@Rich804Terri) March 20, 2025
And rather than ignoring it and scrolling right on by, Carly responded directly to it, saying she “looked right at her” while singing about the banker who tried to take Dolly’s husband back in the day:
“Aw don’t you worry, I looked right at her.”
I mean, not mincing any words or implications whatsoever… pretty dang savage to put that on a public platform if you ask me:
I guess we can just read between the lines, here, people…
Aw don’t you worry, I looked right at her 😇
— Carly Pearce (@carlypearce) March 20, 2025
Here’s a quick clip of the performance:
Carly Pearce celebrates Dolly Parton at the Opry 100: A Live Celebration. 🤩 Watch on @peacock! pic.twitter.com/71LHUwUoDX
— E! News (@enews) March 20, 2025
There’s rumors that Carly’s song “Heels Over Head” was written about Tyler and her relationship with Carly’s ex-husband, and it’s a pretty dang savage one that finds Carly coming to the realization that the guy she likes doesn’t want to work quite so hard for a good time, so to speak, and would rather just take the “easier” option, if you will…
She admits that she understands why he’ll never really like her, seeing as the other girl he’s been hanging out with doesn’t even “need a couple drinks to let you take her home and tangle up her sheets.”
I don’t know if that’s true it was specifically about Tyler, but after seeing Carly’s rather honest and blatant tweet, I’m inclined to believe that might be the case…
She certainly didn’t hold back here, either:
“Heels Over Head”