Shaboozey responds to controversial joke made about him at CMA Awards

Country singer Shaboozey has responded to a joke involving his name that was made at the 2024 Country Music Association Awards.

During the ceremony, Cody Johnson won the award for album of the year. Johnson was joined on stage by producer Trent Willmon, who made a comment incorporating Shaboozey’s name.

Holding the award in his hands, Willmon addressed Johnson, who stood directly behind him, and said, “I got to tell ya, this is for this cowboy who has been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years, Cody Johnson.”

TODAY.com has reached out to Willmon for comment about the intentions of his statement.

Online, some viewers thought the joke was made in poor taste.

“HOLD ON ‘kicking Shaboozey’???”one X user wrote. Someone commented below, “Didn’t need to be said.”

Some were outright confused by what Willmon meant to say.

“I was so confused by that and I’m truly hoping I heard him wrong,” another X user said.

One X user was waiting for an explanation: “Oh I need the clarifying articles ASAP cause what the actual????”

Many concluded that Willmon substituted “kicking Shaboozey” for “kicking butt,” but felt the joke was a “poor choice of words,” as one X user wrote.

“The only thing i can think was cody johnson’s producer was trying to make a joke about kicking ‘booty’ and replaced it with shaboozey as a horrible pun that no one found funny lol,” another said.

While the comment sparked criticism from some viewers, others supported Willmon. “He fumbled. We all knew what he meant to say. Trent’s a good dude, I hate the backlash he’s getting,” one wrote.

Shortly after the 2024 CMA Awards ended, Shaboozey, whose real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze, appeared to respond to the joke. He shared a photo of himself sitting in a sprinter van wearing an all-black outfit with rings on his hands and a chain around his neck.

“Ain’t nobody kicking me!” he captioned the pic on X.