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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