Shaboozey Responds to Viral AMAs Side Eye Moment With Megan Maroney

Shaboozey has responded to the viral moment where he appeared to side-eye Megan Moroney at the 2025 American Music Awards Monday night after Maroney said the Carter Family “basically invented” country music.

During Monday night’s awards ceremony, the two artists took the stage to present the award for favorite country duo or group. There, they honored some country stars from the past who had also been honored by the AMAs, with Shaboozey alluding to Charley Pride winning the first-ever AMA for favorite male country artist. Moroney then read from a teleprompter that “this award went to the Carter family, who basically invented country music.”

The “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer seemed to give her a side eye after she recited the sentence, and the two went on to present the award to Dan + Shay. The moment swiftly went viral online, and Shaboozey has now responded to the controversy on X.

In a since deleted post, Shaboozey first told followers to look up figures like Lesley Riddle, Steve Tarter, Harry Gay and DeFord Bailey, and their influence on country and The Carter Family. The Carter Family is regarded as “the first family of country music,” according to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Riddle in particular is cited as an influence on the group for helping A.P. Carter with songs and for teaching Maybelle Carter his guitar style. Still, as Shaboozey seems to reference, while The Carter Family are often spotlighted, Black country progenitors haven’t been given their due.

“When you uncover the true history of country music, you find a story so powerful that it cannot be erased…” he wrote in another post on Tuesday. Shaboozey followed up his second post roughly an hour later, writing that “the real history of country music is about people coming together despite their differences, and embracing and celebrating the things that make us alike.” 

A rep for Maroney hasn’t responded to request for comment.

The influence of Black musicians on the country genre has become a more common topic in music in recent years, as evidenced as recently as last year on Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning country album Cowboy Carter. Bey dedicated her Grammy for album of the year to country pioneer Linda Martell, who was featured on the album on “Spaghettii” and “The Linda Martell Show.” Ahead of the album’s release last March, Beyoncé herself revealed she wanted to create the project after she “did not feel welcomed” breaking into the country music genre. 

“It was very clear that I wasn’t,” the Grammy-winning artist wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”

Shaboozey was featured on “Spaghettii and “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN’” telling The Hollywood Reporter last year that his feature on Cowboy Carter “helped amplify what I was already doing in this space,” while pointing out Beyoncé’s modern impact on the genre.

He of course broke out on his own not much later, as “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” tied Lil Nas X’s country-hip hop hit “Old Town Road” for the most weeks ever at Number One on the Hot 100. The song was nominated for three Grammys, including best country song and best country solo performance.