Kelsea Ballerini Brushes Off Comments About Grammy Loss Reaction, Says Face Reading Is ‘Unnecessary and Hurtful’

One of the hardest balancing acts in entertainment is appearing gracious and happy when the person on stage opens the awards envelope and doesn’t read your name. That was the spot Kelsea Ballerini was in on Sunday night at the 2024 Grammy Awards when Lainey Wilson‘s Bell Bottom Country bested her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat in the best country album category.

Here’s the thing. On Monday night (Feb. 5), Ballerini, 30, explained in an Instagram Story that what commenters and some viewers clocked as a look of disappointment or displeasure was a totally normal, healthy reaction that doesn’t deserve the harsh judgement it’s faced.

“Ohhhh yall. 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,” Ballerini wrote. “The face reading and reaction analysis is unnecessary and hurtful to everyone.”

Most crucially, Ballerini said, “a woman’s win is a team win. Write about that instead?”

The latter was a seeming reference to the huge night female performers had at this year’s Grammys, one in which women artists swept all Big Four Awards, including Taylor Swift snagging her record fourth album of the year trophy for her Midnights album, as well as Miley Cyrus winning record of the year for “Flowers,” Billie Eilish taking song of the year for the Barbie soundtrack hit “What Was I Made For?” and Victoria Monét winning best new artist.

Wilson’s album has had a strong awards season run, previously taking album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 11 and at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 8; it’s just the 9th album to complete country music’s “triple crown” by winning all three of these top awards.