'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Morgan Wallen reportedly failed to win an award at the 59th Annual Country Music Association Awards despite being nominated in three of the top categories: Album of the Year (for his album I'm the Problem), Male Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. For the uninitiated, the CMAs 2025 were held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on November 19, 2025.
According to Taste of Country, Wallen reportedly did not attend the event this year as he was not spotted anywhere on the red carpet or at the actual event. The country singer was also not scheduled to perform or present at the awards ceremony despite his multiple nominations.
Morgan Wallen's snub at the CMAs 2025 was met with backlash from fans. One X user wondered why the singer was nominated every year if the awards ceremony never let him win.
Trending
"Why does Morgan Wallen even keep getting nominated for the CMAs? We all know they’ll never let him win. Dude should have 10 of those things by now #cma2025."
Several fans agreed with this, adding that Morgan Wallen was robbed at the awards show. Meanwhile, others called the Country Music Association Awards a "laughing stock" and a "complete joke" for Wallen's apparent snub.
Other fans claimed that Wallen deserved to win Entertainer of the Year, posting about his achievements.
Morgan Wallen was banned from attending the CMAs in 2021
Morgan Wallen was reportedly banned from attending the CMAs 2021. This came as part of a genre-wide blacklist after a video of the singer saying the N-word while inebriated during a night out with friends went viral on social media that February.
In September that year, The Los Angeles Times reported that while Wallen's album, Dangerous: The Double Album, was nominated for Album of the Year, the singer was banned from attending the red carpet, making an appearance at the ceremony, or walking on stage to collect the award should he win. In a statement to the LA Times, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern said:
“This is the first time in the history of the CMA, to my knowledge, anyone has ever been disqualified for conduct. Honoring him as an individual this year is not right, and he will not be allowed on the red carpet, on our stage, or be celebrated in any way.”
In May 2021, the Country Music Association stated that Wallen would not be eligible for nominations in categories where the award would be presented solely to him.
However, he was eligible in categories that would also honor other credited collaborators, such as a "Single, Song, Album, Musical Event, and Music Video of the Year categories." In a statement to Variety at the time, a rep for the Country Music Association said:
“Board of Directors voted to amend Morgan Wallen’s 2021 CMA Awards eligibility: He will be eligible in categories that honor artistic works (Single, Song, Album, Musical Event, and Music Video of the Year categories), so as not to limit opportunity for other credited collaborators. He will not be eligible for nomination in the individual artist categories (Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year categories).”
While Morgan Wallen appeared at the awards ceremony in 2022 and 2023 for performances, he skipped the event in 2024 when he won Entertainer of the Year. It is unclear why he decided to skip the event again this year.
However, he seemingly suggested that he was not attending this year's awards ceremony when he appeared at Ella Langley's show in Nashville earlier this month, saying:
“Yeah, it takes a lot more than an awards show to get me out to Broadway these days, I will tell you that."
According to Billboard, Morgan Wallen was named one of the six recipients of the 2025 CMA International Awards, winning the International Artist Achievement Award. This announcement was made a week before the awards ceremony, and the winners were reportedly honored onstage during a pre-telecast ceremony on the day of the event.
