Kelsea Ballerini confronted a concert attendee who called out her ex-husband's name during her show. (Photo Credit: tanyaamitchell / TikTok)
Kelsea Ballerini Fires Back At Concert Attendee Who Called Out Her Ex-Husband’s Name
Kelsea Ballerini was not having it when a heckler yelled her ex-husband’s name during her recent show in Australia.
Ballerini was performing in Sydney, Australia. Her ex-husband, fellow country artist Morgan Evans, is Australian, so he has his fair share of fans there.
Ballerini’s setlist included her song “Penthouse,” a track from her post-divorce EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. During the song, it sounded like someone in the crowd shouted “Team Morgan,” which Ballerini heard. It appeared to upset her, but not for the reason you’d expect.
Fan-filmed footage from that evening shows the crowd booing before Ballerini confronted the heckler. She said, “f*** off,” before rolling her eyes and saying, “Team everyone’s happy.”
She gave the audience a “thumbs up” and a smile before quickly flashing her middle finger and continuing the song.
Later, Ballerini addressed the incident in an Instagram Story post, which has since been deleted.
“respectfully, if anyone yells anything disrespectful to anyone during this song again, it will no longer be on the setlist,” she said. “please let this be a song that matters to people and not a place to insert yourself into a world that doesn’t exist and was never yours to begin with. team everyone’s happy or bust, please.”
Kelsea Ballerini shared this post on her Instagram Story after someone in the crowd at her show shouted her ex-husband Morgan Evans’ name. (Photo Credit: Kelsea Ballerini / Instagram)
Ballerini and Evans were married from 2017 until their divorce in 2022. Ballerini went on to date Outer Banks star Chase Stokes, whom she reportedly split from in September. Evans is currently dating country singer and American Idol alum Laci Kaye Booth.
Earlier this year, Ballerini brought one of her shows to a halt when she heard attendees yelling profanities about Evans. She said, “Seriously, we’re three years past it, everything’s fine now…I sing the song for you now, it’s not about me anymore, please.”
Kelsea Ballerini Says She Could Have Been More “Gentle” On Her EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat
The night after Ballerini confronted the heckler who allegedly shouted “Team Morgan” in Australia, she had another show.
As she prepared to sing “Penthouse,” Ballerini let fans know how the song’s meaning has changed for her over time. She says now, looking back, she thinks she could have been more “gentle” with the way she expressed herself in “Penthouse” and Rolling Up the Welcome Mat as a whole.
“But one of the things that I’ve really been feeling in life, especially now that I’ve stepped into womanhood, whatever that may mean to you, is that there are so many things in my life, big and small, that I in hindsight, with age and growth, I just wish I would’ve done differently, and handled with more care, or not done at all,” she said.
She continued:
“...’Welcome Mat’ changed my life. I’m so grateful for it…It wasn’t my intention, but it changed my life, and the way I will make music forever and ever. But I could have been a little bit more gentle…and I sing it all with the vigor that I wrote it with because I had the big ol’ feelings. But in hindsight, that is one of the things that I would revise. I would have been more gentle because when you break up… it comes with two sides of pretty big feelings. And it’s hard to say I regret it, because I love it, and I’m proud of it, and it’s honest. But at the same time, a lot of people were hurt because of that project.“
This speech was also captured on video by a concert attendee, who shared it on TikTok. Watch it below to hear Ballerini express how she feels about “Penthouse” and Rolling Up the Welcome Mat today.
