Did you stay up to watch the American Music Awards, or were you too tired from all the obligatory Memorial Day Weekend hot dogs and burgers? Either truth is valid, TBH, but if you didn’t see the show, you might’ve missed out on an unplanned shady moment on stage between Shaboozey, of “Tipsy,” People’s Hot Guy Summer, and friends with Beyoncé fame, and country singer-songwriter Megan Moroney as they presented an AMA Award.
As someone who has now watched the interaction several times and translated every millisecond of the awkward energy, I guess I’m now qualified to add the title of empath to my resume because I’m pretty sure I know exactly what Shaboozey was thinking. What happened with Shaboozey and Megan Moroney at the AMAs? Your favorite newly minted empath has got you covered with all of the details below.
Update: Shaboozey Addresses The Megan Moroney Moment
Shaboozey Defends Megan Moroney From “Hateful Comments”
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Alright, alright, everybody calm down (and maybe take a shot of whiskey). Shaboozey felt the need to clear the air on May 28, a day after his viral AMAs side-eye moment with Megan Moroney caught some attention.
Shaboozey took to Megan’s comment section to explain: “My reaction at the AMAs had nothing to do with Megan Moroney! She’s an incredibly talented, hard-working artist who’s doing amazing things for country music, and I’ve got nothing but respect for her.”
His defense of Megan went on to note that Shaboozey has “seen some hateful comments directed at her today, and that’s not what this moment was about. Let’s not twist the message — she is amazing and someone who represented the country community in the highest light.” Okay! That’s that on that, and fair enough considering, once again, Megan more than likely didn’t write the speech she was asked to do on the AMA stage.
What happened with Shaboozey and Megan Moroney at the AMAs?
Shaboozey is going viral for his reaction to Megan Moroney claiming that the Carter family “basically invented country music” at the #AMAs. pic.twitter.com/JqvGzACjLv
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 27, 2025
When Shaboozey and Megan Moroney were on stage to present the award for “favorite country duo or group,” Megan stated that “this award went to the Carter family, who basically invented country music.” JIC, you were confused: the Carter Family, in this case, does not refer to Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, and Jay-Z.
The Carter family is a legendary country music group from the 20th century nicknamed “The First Family of Country,” despite not getting those flowers in their day. But historians also note that Black blues and country artists, like Leslie Riddle, worked alongside the family, teaching the Carters Black music techniques that helped make their music so legendary.
So it’s possible that Shaboozey, a Black country musician, clocked the low-key erasure that goes down in country music all the time (just ask Beyoncé who both made an album about it and experienced it herself with debuting said album) coming from Megan (or more likely, whoever wrote the AMA teleprompter script). To be fair, Shaboozey’s face crack only lasted a second, so I doubt people in the room even noticed anything went down. But, as we know, the internet is forever! Hey, at least, Shaboozey and Megan gave fans another opportunity to get a lil history lesson in country music, right? Intentionally or unintentionally!
