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American country pop singer Morgan Wallen wasn't present at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs) on May 8, 2025. While he was nominated for seven awards, including Male Artist of the Year, at the end of the night, he didn't win in any of the categories.
Meanwhile, country singer, songwriter, and guitarist Chris Stapleton won the Male Artist of the Year award two times in a row, following last year’s victory. Overall, this was his fifth Male of the Year award at the ACMs. During his acceptance speech, Stapleton said that he was "happy just to be hanging out in the room" with all the other "deserving and great artists."
"So many guys in this category that are so deserving and great artists, and I'm happy just to be hanging out in the room still," Stapleton said.
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He also thanked his wife and frequent collaborator, Morgane, their kids, and his crew for “keeping me in line.” He then dedicated the award to Ben Vaughn, the late president and CEO of Warner Chappell Music Nashville, who died earlier this year.
After news of Chris Stapleton's win and Morgan Wallen losing out was shared on social media, netizens had diverse reactions to the same. For instance, X user @War__Eagle__Fan used a GIF of country musician Luke Combs from the ceremony and wrote:
“How does Chris Stapleton win the @ACMawards Male Artist of the Year when he didn’t even put out music. @lukecombs and @MorganWallen keep on getting disrespected #ACMawards60.”
Notably, Luke Combs was nominated in this year’s Male Artist of the Year category.
Many people joined the conversation and shared similar reactions on the platform.
“Of course Chris Stapleton winning and robbing Morgan Wallen, who has had a much bigger year #ACMawards60,” a fan wrote.
“Chris Stapleton is a very talented artist, but DANG, everyone else was ROBBED. He hasn’t even put out any music in a year?!? How in the world does that equate Male Artist of the Year?!?!—it should’ve been Morgan Wallen, but we know all too well he always gets purposefully snubbed,” another fan wrote.
“Sorry, but Chris Stapleton winning Male Artist of the Year by default every year is getting weird and a bit of a joke at this point #ACMawards60,” a user wrote.
Others continued to chime in, as some expressed their disappointment about the If I Know Me crooner, while a few claimed Luke Combs or Cody Johnson should have won.
“Unpopular opinion - I’m sick of Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen. When is Luke Combs going to take this award home?” a netizen asked.
“It is absolutely a f**kin joke! Everyone knows that the award should be Morgan Wallen’s. He will never get the credit he deserves,” another netizen wrote.
“I’m the biggest Chris fan there is, but yeah, him winning every year by default seems weird. Thought CoJo should have won this year,” an individual wrote.
Unlike Wallen, both Combs and Johnson attended this year’s ACMs, as did Jelly Roll, the other contender in the Male Artist of the Year category.
More about Morgan Wallen's absence from the 2025 ACMs
Morgan Wallen did not attend the 60th ACM Awards on Thursday, held at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. While the reason behind his absence is undisclosed, he shared a picture of himself spending time with former American professional football quarterback and sports broadcaster, Tom Brady.
The photo was shared on Morgan’s Instagram Stories right before the start of ACMs. The 31-year-old singer was seen tossing a football on a golf course with the retired NFL star. The caption read, “Had a little mustard on it.”
Meanwhile, the Last Night singer was nominated in seven categories, including Male Artist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year.
Notably, this is not the first music award that Wallen has missed in recent times, as he missed the 2025 Grammy Awards as well. He earned two debut nominations at the Grammys, Best Country Duo/ Group Performance and Best Country Song for I Had Some Help, in collaboration with Post Malone. The duo lost in both categories.
In November 2024, Morgan Wallen missed the Country Music Awards (CMAs) despite being nominated for Entertainer of the Year, which he ended up winning. Jeff Bridges accepted it on his behalf. At the 2024 CMAs, the Sneedville, Tennessee native was the most-nominated artist with six nominations.
Wallen is slated to drop his brand-new album I’m the Problem on May 16, 2025. He revealed the track list and collaborators in April, which include Post Malone, Eric Church, ERNEST, HARDY, and Tate McRae, among others.
Next month, Morgan will be embarking on a stadium tour named after his latest album, starting with Houston on June 20. The tour will cover parts of the USA and North America. The likes of Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, Koe Wetzel, Gavin Adcock, Corey Kent, Ella Langley, and Anne Wilson are scheduled to join him.
