Here's What Cody Johnson's Producer, Trent Willmon, Had to Say About His ‘Kicking Shaboozey’ Comment at the CMA Awards

After one of the more bizarre moments at the 2024 CMA Awards, during which Cody Johnson's Leather producer, Trent Willmon, made a reference to Johnson “kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years”, Willmon has taken to Instagram to try and explain his faux-pas.

In a lengthy post, Trent Willmon, who was addressing the CMA audience during the Album of the Year-winning acceptance speech, has cited being in an “overly-shocked and excited state” when stepping up to the microphone during the star-studded ceremony.

Trent Willmon seemed to suggest he meant to say Cody Johnson has been “kicking booty”, rather than “kicking Shaboozey”, “Ok... what I meant to express in my overly-shocked and excited state was that I am very proud of Cody Johnson. He has worked his BOOTY off the last 15 years putting out and performing great music and it's not an overnight success. I was so proud he's finally getting recognized!”

CoJo's long-time producer concluded by paying tribute to Shaboozey, who responded to Willmon's initial comments with a playful selfie and the message, “Ain’t nobody kicking me!”

Trent Willmon shared his congratulations on Shaboozey's record-breaking 17-week spell at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’, which he performed during the 2024 CMA Awards, “And shout out to Shaboozey for your response to my fumble and having a great sense of humor, congrats on that 17-Week #1 Song!”

Shaboozey is yet to respond to Trent Willmon's Instagram apology. While it's certainly understandable to feel a little flustered when staring out into a sea of country music's biggest names at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, some fans still believe Willmon's comments were a little too pointed to be dismissed as a mere slip of the tongue.

Shaboozey's uptempo, hip hop-infused performance of ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ at the 2024 CMA Awards was championed for its innovation by many, but a slew of classic country commentators continue to criticise the genre-blending nature of the smash hit.

As a result, for Trent Willmon - who works on traditional-leaning Texas country music - to say that Cody Johnson has been “kicking Shaboozey” at a time when the clash between contemporary country and old-school country is a key talking-point feels to many like more than just an accident. Hopefully, though, it was a genuine error from Willmon, and he simply got carried away by the glare of the CMA spotlight.

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