HELL YES, Cody Johnson.
The Texas star took home the CMA Award for Album of the Year for his Leather album, and it’s incredibly well-deserved after many years of putting in the work and making great country music.
Cody Johnson has been doing this for nearly two decades, and is finally one of the biggest things in country music… chase those dreams, people.#CMAawards
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) November 21, 2024
But things took a bit of an awkward turn when Cody passed the mic to his producer, Trent Willmon, during their acceptance speech, who made a comment about how Cody has been “kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years” to earn his award the hard way… and obviously, it definitely came off as a direct shot at Shaboozey, who is also nominated tonight and you might recognize from his viral hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
It could’ve been that he meant to say Cody was kicking “Shabooty,” if we’re being generous, but to me, it felt a little more pointed than that… it’s hard to say I guess, but Willmon is a real Texas boy and I could see him not exactly loving the whole Nashville song and dance and maybe letting something slip most in Nashville never would in this kind of setting (he might’ve had a bourbon or two before the show, too… who knows).
Honestly, CoJo seemed a little surprised by the comment too, and hopefully someone will bring it up and we can get some answers about what he really meant. Fans on X seemed to think it was definitely a shot at Shaboozey:
what’d that guy say about shaboozey lmaooo cody johnson looked uncomfortable
— cam (@gatorstroll) November 21, 2024
Why did Cody Johnson’s writer throw a diss at Shaboozey for literally no reason at all?
— Peyton Hacker (@_peytonhacker) November 21, 2024
A slight on @ShaboozeysJeans ? @codyjohnson #cmas #CMAwards pic.twitter.com/z2YD8U5Syk
— Jennifer Su (Jen Su) (@jennifer_su) November 21, 2024
@shaboozey should ask Cody Johnson’s producer what he meant by that comment @CountryMusic
— slr38344 (@slr38344) November 21, 2024
Cody Johnson’s producer Trent Willmon really said that Cody’s been “kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years.” 🤣🤣🤣#CMAawards
— Nick Geddes (@NickGeddesNews) November 21, 2024
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
Trent Willmon Knows! “This guys been kicking Shaboozey for years!” @codyjohnson #CMAAwards
— MSully10 (@MartySullivan10) November 21, 2024
Way to ruin the moment for @codyjohnson … unless he’s OK with it, in which case … yuck.
— Will Herman (@W1llHerman) November 21, 2024
Cody also took the stage with Carrie Underwood for a stellar performance of “I’m Gonna Love You”
