HARDY and Morgan Wallen have seemingly taken a couple of not-so-subtle jabs at country awards shows via a new social media post. Neither artist attended the recent ACM Awards 2026 in Las Vegas, and Wallen didn't receive any accolades.

Alongside a carousel of photos from a recent tour-stop, HARDY writes, “They got a category for this…?”. He appears to be suggesting that because he blurs the lines between country and rock, he doesn't fit into any of the old-school ACM or CMA ‘boxes’, as well as making a broader statement against the direction of awards shows.

Wallen, one of HARDY's closest buddies in the industry, has hilariously replied, “Who's they”. As we've outlined in the past, Wallen is famously tight-lipped on social media, and only comments or posts when he's either promoting music or a tour, or making a point.

It's worth flagging as well that their Big Loud Records label-mate, Stephen Wilson Jr. has also chimed in with an amusing Randy Travis reference: “forever and ever, they men”. As expected, HARDY and Wallen fans have been flooding the comments section with disgruntled remarks about the latter not winning any ACM Awards last week.

The ACM Awards drew flak from many country fans for snubbing Wallen in all the categories he was nominated in. Wallen remains the most popular country artist in today's landscape, and his chart, streaming and touring figures outpace all his peers.

However, at the Vegas ceremony, the ‘Last Night’ hitmaker was overlooked for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year. Bizarrely, Wallen wasn't even nominated for Male Artist of the Year, which went to Cody Johnson. CoJo also took home the coveted Entertainer of the Year gong for the first time.

HARDY has long been a vocal supporter of Wallen, with their collaborative partnership and friendship stretching back to the early days of Wallen's career. In the now-iconic video for ‘Whiskey Glasses’, for instance, HARDY makes a series of cameos, and the country-rocker has penned a dizzying array of Wallen hits over the years.

It's a point that has been made time and again during recent awards seasons, with many country commentators and fans seeing the ACM and CMA's relatively frosty attitude towards Wallen as detrimental to the validity of the ceremonies themselves.

As HARDY wryly notes here, if he and Wallen aren't a part of the major country awards shows, despite being two dominant artists, then perhaps they need some new categories.

For more on HARDY, see below: