Kelsea Ballerini flips the bird after ‘blind-sided’ performance
Kelsea Ballerini lets in a little “rage” as she performs her song “Blindsided.”
Ballerini, 30, sang the ballad – which is apparently about her divorce from ex-husband Morgan Evans – during a surprise appearance for a live taping of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in Nashville. The singer posted a video of the performance via Instagram on Tuesday, November 15, where she raised two middle fingers after singing the lyrics, “You would have searched the whole world? Yeah, sure, okay.”
Backstage, Ballerini talked about why she decided to make this gesture, saying, “I always wanted to flip the bird on stage, but I’ve always been a little too nervous, a little too nervous because I’m a good girl, but I’ve been a little fury.”
“Blindsided” is from Ballerini’s Roll up the welcome mat EP, released in February 2022 and currently nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Album. It was accompanied by a 20-minute short film in which a woman, played by Ballerini, goes through the stages of grief as she experiences the end of a marriage and impending divorce.
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Ballerini previously hinted that the tune was partially a response to Evans’ song “Over for You,” which he released in October 2022, two months after the couple announced they were calling it quits. (Ballerini filed for divorce in August 2022 after five years of marriage and the divorce was finalized in November 2022.)
“I don’t know if I would have written a song like ‘Blindsided’ if I hadn’t responded to something that already existed,” Ballerini told the BBC. New York Times in March.
Evans, 38, responded to ‘Blindsided’ on Instagram wrote in February: “It’s really sad for me to see this person, with whom I have spent much of my life and loved with all my heart, saying things that are not reality and that disregard what is happening actually happened.” He added: “She knows I’m not the type of man to talk about these things publicly. If this is what she needs to heal, I hope it helps.”
After the couple’s divorce, Ballerini moved on Chase Stokes. The pair started dating in December 2022, and Ballerini made the relationship official on Instagram two months later.
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Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes quickly became a fan-favorite couple after confirming their relationship status. The country singer and the Outer Banks star were first linked in January 2023 after they were spotted together at the College Football Playoff National Championship in Los Angeles. Ballerini confirmed the romance a month later during a TV appearance […]
“I slid into his DMs,” she said during a February episode of “Call Her Daddy” about making the first move on the Outdoor benches star, 31. “I just dove in. … His handle is ‘hichasestokes’ and I just said, ‘Hello Chase Stokes.'”
On Tuesday, Ballerini posted a video of himself and Stokes through TikTok, soundtracked by her new single ‘How Do I Do This’. The beautiful montage shows the couple enjoying car rides, hanging out at bars and concerts, swimming and accompanying each other to events.
“Favorite human,” she captioned the images.