A camera pan to Kelsea Ballerini on Sunday (Feb. 4) during CBS' broadcast of the 2024 Grammys sparked rumors online. Ballerini, whose Rolling Up the Welcome Mat was in the running for Best Country Album, lost to Lainey Wilson, who took home hardware for Bell Bottom Country.
The following day, Ballerini used an Instagram story to address online speculation that she was a poor sport.
"Ohhhh yall," she wrote (as quoted by E! News). "You can be bummed for your loss and happy for somebody else's win at the same time. Two things can be true and both hold valid and valuable space. The face reading and reaction analysis is unnecessary and hurtful to everyone."
Ballerini ended her statement on a very positive note: "A woman's win is a team win. Write about that instead?"
The 2024 Grammys were dominated by women. Taylor Swift claimed the top prize, Album of the Year, for Midnights. Miley Cyrus won the first two Grammys of her career for "Flowers": Best Solo Pop Performance and Record of the Year. Overall, women won every general category award aside from Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year.
Unfortunately, Ballerini was among the artists stuck in Los Angeles traffic during the red carpet arrivals. During the broadcast, she wore a glamorous and adventurous take on the little black dress, complete with purple flower embellishments.
Ballerini's Best Country Album nomination upped her career total to four. In 2017, she was in the running for the prestigious Best New Artist prize. Maren Morris was in the running that year for Best New Artist, as well. Both lost out to future "The Voice" coach Chance the Rapper. Ballerini fell short again in 2019 (Best Country Album for Unapologetically) and 2023 (Best Country Solo Performance for "Heartfirst").
