Kelsea Ballerini’s Ex-Husband And Ex-Boyfriend Are Beefing Over Masculinity

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Not sure if the star of the teenage drama show Outer Banks is really who I think of when I look for examples of masculinity.

Chase Stokes, the actor best known for his role as John B. in the popular Netflix series, recently called out Morgan Evans in a bizarre social media outburst that now has the country singer trying to show off his masculinity.

Yeah, it’s as stupid as it sounds, but here we are.

For some backstory here, Australian country singer Morgan Evans is the ex-husband of fellow country star Kelsea Ballerini. The two were married in 2017 before announcing their divorce in 2022. And it’s safe to say that the two didn’t exactly split on good terms, because they’ve both taken some not-so-subtle shots at each other in their music over the past couple years.

After the divorce, Morgan released a song called “Over For You” that pointedly questioned when Kelsea decided that their marriage was over, after he had said that he was “blindsided” by the divorce:

“I would have searched the whole world over for you
Took a flight through the night to be that shoulder for you.”

Ballerini responded by adding a new verse to her song “Blindsided.”

“Now you’re singing it loud on the radio
You couldn’t say it to my face
You would have searched the whole world over?
Yeah, sure, okay”

She also released her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP that really seemed to call out her ex for the issues in their relationship, while Evans debuted a new song called “What Does That Say About You?” and introduced it by throwing some shade at his ex-wife:

“I’d like to dedicate this one to anyone with an ex that won’t stop talking sh*t about them.” 

Overall though, it seems like Evans has been fairly lowkey since the divorce, despite taking a lot of heat from his ex-wife’s fans – though he did say during a 2023 interview that it was “sad” to see Kelsea talking about him in public while he had hoped to keep their issues private.

“It’s really sad for me to see this person, who I spent so much of my life with, and loved with all my heart, saying things that aren’t reality that leave out what really happened.

She knows I’m not the type of guy to speak on those things publicly. If this is what she needs to heal, I hope it helps.

All I ask is that if you’re on pages, please don’t be mean. Don’t be mean to Kelsea, don’t be mean to each other. Life’s too short.”

Well shortly after the divorce, Ballerini began dating Chase Stokes, and the couple have seemingly been on-again/off-again over the past couple of years. It was reported over the last month or so that the couple had once again gone their separate ways – but it seems that Stokes is still a bit overly-sensitive about his recent ex-girlfriend.

The recent beef between exes started when Evans appeared on an episode of The Bobbycast, where he discussed opening up about the divorce on his new album Steel Town, which drops later this month.

Well apparently Ballerini is the only one who’s allowed to write songs about her divorce, because in a since-deleted comment, Stokes came at Evans for his masculinity while telling him to move on:

“This is about the most pathetic excuse of masculinity ive ever seen. Get a f—ing life.”

What a bizarre response. First of all, Morgan didn’t say anything bad about Kelsea in the interview – and honestly, he never really has. He’s also never really opened up on the divorce, at least nowhere near to the extent that his ex-wife has, so what’s the problem with writing a few songs about such an important chapter in your life? I don’t get it.

But the really weird part was Stokes coming at Evans by implying that he’s…not masculine? What?

Well despite the fact that Stokes deleted his comment, Evans got wind of it and had a hilarious response that pretty much put an end to any of the “masculinity” debate:

Yeah, Morgan wins this one in a landslide. Sorry John B.

I’m not sure where the outburst from Stokes even came from, because Morgan didn’t say anything that would have prompted a response like that. Maybe Stokes is still hurting from the breakup, or maybe he’s trying to stand up for Ballerini to try to win her back? Who knows.

Either way, props to Morgan for the way he handled it. Seems like the kind of guy you could throw a few beers back with at a dive bar…and Stokes seems like the guy who drinks seltzers and vodka martinis in the roped off section of some LA nightclub.