What’s an award show without a little bit of drama?
Last night, Lainey Wilson took home the coveted Grammy Award for Country Album of the Year with her 2023 record Bell Bottom Country. She was up against Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, Kelsea Ballerini and Brothers Osborne in the category, and was presented the award by former winner Kacey Musgraves.
Some fans sounded off on X (Twitter) saying that the award should’ve went to Zach or Tyler, and many noticed that Kelsea didn’t look too happy about losing, either.
After seeing her less-than-thrilled reaction to Lainey’s name being called on live TV, fans speculated that she was really upset about losing seeing as she put out a great album in Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, probably her best work yet, honestly.
The hard thing about this category, though, is that every artist is usually very deserving and that makes picking one winner all the more difficult and upsetting when you lose.
You can see her reaction for yourself here:
Personally, I didn’t think that much of it other than noticing that she might’ve looked kind of annoyed, though she was clapping along with everyone else. And honestly, I kind of appreciate the fact that she was showing her emotions… it sucks to lose, and I know I would probably be disappointed too. Who doesn’t want to win a Grammy?
That doesn’t mean you can’t be happy for the person who won, but we’re all human and it really wasn’t that big of a deal… I’m sure she really was happy for Lainey and to see another country lady win such a big award.
And that’s exactly what Kelsea said on Instagram a little while ago, taking to her stories to share an explanation of sorts about the moment, saying that “face reading and reaction analysis” is hurtful to all parties.
Kelsea ultimately stated that “a woman’s win is a team win,” encouraging the media to “write about that instead”:
“Ohhhh y’all. You can be bummed for your loss and happy for somebody else’s win at the same time. 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?”
She reportedly was also running late to the show and missed the red carpet, so I’m sure that added to the frustration as well:
Regardless, I think most of the country music community is ultimately happy to see Lainey win (including Kelsea), and the Louisiana native got up on stage and gave a great speech while gracefully accepting the AOTY award, which you can watch in-full below.
