After kindly reprimanding the crowd at her Hollywood, Fla., show on Sunday, she asked “everyone that’s moving forward with their life” to sing with her.
Kelsea Ballerini has moved on, and she’d like her fans to come with her.
“Guys, you’ve gotta stop saying that,” she pleaded with the crowd during a Sunday show at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla. Fan videos of the moment don’t pick up on what Ballerini was responding to, but fans shouting things like, “F— you, Morgan,” have become a common refrain at Ballerini’s shows since her divorce from Australian singer Morgan Evans in 2022.
She continued, “Seriously. We’re three years past it, everything’s fine now, I sing this song for you now, it’s not about me anymore, please. All right, for everyone that’s moving forward with their life, will you sing this with me?”
Reps for Ballerini did not respond to Entertainment Weekly‘s request for comment.
Ballerini was in the middle of singing the song “Penthouse” from her 2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. The song is a confessional account of Ballerini’s separation from Evans, containing lyrics like, “It stings rolling up the welcome mat, / Knowing you got half. / I kissed someone new last night, / But now I don’t know where you’re sleeping, baby.”
The pair first met in 2016 when they were tapped as cohosts of Australia’s Country Music Channel Awards. They were engaged later that year and married the next. Ballerini filed for divorce from Evans in 2022, posting on her Instagram story that August, “This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth, and effort that ultimately has come to an end. It’s hard to find the words here… but I feel extremely grateful for the years of marriage to Morgan and hopeful for the next seasons.”
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Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty
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Ballerini released Rolling Up the Welcome Mat amid rumors she was dating Outer Banks star Chase Stokes the following year. That May, she sang a modified version of “Penthouse” at a show that substituted the line. “I kissed someone new last night, / But now I don’t know where you’re sleeping, baby” to, “I kissed someone new last night, / And now I don’t care where you’re sleeping, baby.”
She released that version of the song, titled “Penthouse (Healed Version),” in August to coincide with the release of the release of the extended EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good).
Ballerini currently serves as one of the coaches for The Voice season 27, alongside Michael Bublé, John Legend, and Adam Levine.
The Voice returns to NBC Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
