Shaboozey responds to viral AMAs side-eye with Megan Moroney

Shaboozey has responded to the viral moment where he appeared to side-eye co-presenter Megan Moroney at the 2025 American Music Awards Monday night.

In a clip from Monday night’s awards ceremony, the two artists can be seen taking the stage to present the award for favorite country duo or group. “Country music has been an important part of AMA history,” Shaboozey begins, adding, “The very first year of this show, the award for Favorite Male Country Artist went to the great Charley Pride.” Pride, who died in 2020, is considered to be the country genre’s first Black superstar.

“That same year, Favorite Female Artist went to Lynn Anderson. And this award went to the Carter family, who basically invented country music,” Moroney then reads off the teleprompter. Shaboozey can then be seen giving what looks like a side-eye, and scrunching up his face in apparent confusion at the comment before laughing and moving on.

On Tuesday, the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer seemed to allude to the moment, which promptly went viral. “When you uncover the true history of country music, you find a story so powerful that it cannot be erased…” he posted on X, likely referring to the influence Black artists have historically had in country music — including on the Carters.

In a subsequent post an hour later, he added, “The real history of country music is about people coming together despite their differences, and embracing and celebrating the things that make us alike.”

The artist then, in response to social media users hate-posting about Moroney, wrote a lengthy clarification on one of her Instagram posts.

“Just want to clear something up: my reaction at the AMAs had nothing to do with Megan Moroney!” he wrote. “She’s an incredibly talented, hard-working artist who’s doing amazing things for country music and I’ve got nothing but respect for her.”

“I’ve seen some hateful comments directed at her today,” he continued, “and that’s not what this moment was about. Let’s not twist the message — she is amazing and someone who represents the country community in the highest light!”

Per the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Carters — meaning A. P. Carter, Sara Dougherty Carter, and Maybelle Addington Carter — are considered “the first family of country music.” As the Hall of Fame notes, the group was heavily influenced by Black musician Lesley Riddle, who helped A.P. with songs and taught Maybelle his guitar style.

The influence of Black musicians on the country genre has become a more widely discussed topic in the industry in recent years. In the wake of Ken Burns’ 2019 documentary series, Country Music, TIME perhaps put the issue best in a piece aptly titled “Black Artists Helped Build Country Music—And Then It Left Them Behind.”

“One of the series’ central tenets is that country music has always been home to African-American artists,” the outlet writes of Burns’ docuseries. “Burns shows that, just like in rock, jazz and pop, every facet of country — from its instrumentation to repertoire to vocal and instrumental techniques — is indebted to African and African-American traditions, but commercial decisions by white industry executives led to their exclusion from the genre for decades.”

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Reps for Shaboozey and Moroney didn’t immediately return Entertainment Weekly‘s request for additional comment on Tuesday.

Updated: This article has been updated to include Shaboozey’s comment on Moroney’s Instagram post.