Just got a little too excited.
The 2024 CMA Awards are in the books, and honestly…there weren’t that many memorable moments. Of course the all-star tribute to George Strait was a highlight of the night as the King was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. But other than that, the best part of the 3-hour show was watching Strait’s reactions during the performances.
Gives a whole new meaning to “I hate everything.”#CMAawards pic.twitter.com/tPMku83Bo8
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) November 21, 2024
The one moment from that show that did draw some attention wasn’t even a performance, but a comment made during one of the acceptance speeches.
As Cody Johnson was accepting the award for Album of the Year for his 2023 project Leather, he turned the microphone over to his producer Trent Willmon, who appeared to throw shade at New Artist of the Year nominee Shaboozey:
“It takes an army of people to make a great record, but I gotta tell ya, this is for this cowboy who’s been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years.”
Social media erupted after the comment, with many wondering whether he was trying to make a joke about kicking “Shabooty” or whether it was a dig at the artist’s pop-leaning sound.
the only thing i can think was cody johnson’s producer was trying to make a joke about kicking “booty” and replaced it with shaboozey as a horrible pun that no one found funny lol
— cam (@gatorstroll) November 21, 2024
And Shaboozey fans took to the comments on Willmon’s latest Instagram post to call him out and demand an apology:
“What has Shaboozey done to you or Cody personally? Your comment was really miserable and it is a shame to see you using your voice to try to belittle someone else’s work to uplift yours.”
“Bet you wouldn’t say it to his face!”
“You could’ve expressed excitement for your and Cody’s achievements without dissing a fellow nominee…classless”
“Imagine winning and still feeling the need to mention another. That only means you didn’t think you deserved it either. You owe him an apology. No need to try to put out his light to shine!”
“The fact that you had to kick someone down while basking in success shows the vile and disrespectful attitude that you have. Just sad”
“Trash speech last night…”
“You showed a complete lack of class. It’s small-minded and unprofessional to make such a comment about another artist.”
As for Shaboozey, the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer didn’t seem too bothered by the perceived dig, posting on social media after the show:
Ain’t nobody kicking me! pic.twitter.com/KLiMpBazBk
— Shaboozey (@ShaboozeysJeans) November 21, 2024
And now we’re hearing from Willmon himself.
The producer, and country singer himself, took to social media to attempt to clarify his comments, admitting it was a “fumble” but congratulating the singer on the success of “A Bar Song,” which is currently the longest-running #1 song on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart of 2024:
“Ok… what I meant to express in my overly-shocked and excited state was that I am very proud of Cody Johnson. He has worked his BOOTY off the last 15 years putting out and performing great music and it’s not an overnight success. I was so proud he’s finally getting recognized!
And shout out to Shaboozey for your response to my fumble and having a great sense of humor, congrats on that 17-Week #1 Song!”
So there you have it.