With success comes some inevitable negative press, and Ella Langley is now starting to catch that heat.
Beyond the extensive number of confused outsiders who’ve rolled their eyes at the fact that Langley continues to dominate the Billboard charts with “Choosin’ Texas” leading into its seventh week at number one, she’s now receiving hate from people mainly outside of the country music world ahead of her upcoming Friday, April 24, release. The dominating female voice will join reigning star Morgan Wallen on their soon-to-be hit, “I Can’t Love You Anymore.”
This past Saturday, Langley opened for Wallen for her first show as part of the Still The Problem 2026 Stadium tour in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She then rejoined the stage later in the night for an internet-breaking performance of the collaboration track, which was first teased at the end of the “Choosin’ Texas” music video with the license plate reading “ICLYA.”
Langley and Wallen aren’t a new pairing, considering she’s currently opening for him, not to mention her previously being a 2025 opening act for Wallen and, of course, joining him multiple times for live duets, but this was apparently the tipping point for a select group of people on the internet angered by the collaboration. Following Saturday night’s announcement, many on social media were giving Langley a lot of backlash for being affiliated with the Sneedville native.
Despite the fact that Wallen is undeniably the most massive name in country music right now, not to mention his dominating presence in all genres, there’s always going to be those who give him a bad rap.
People also can’t help but consume music without questioning the artist’s political beliefs, which is a conversation that never goes well. On X/Twitter, you’ll find a number of smear tweets assuming political ties for both artists and dissing the already highly successful Alabama native for the project:
Unfortunately for the hot-headed opposers, while it may be hard to recognize for some, this collaboration is probably not a pairing out of political likeness but rather just two of the largest names in country music right now joining forces for another inevitable chart-topping hit. Neither Wallen nor Langley has outwardly expressed any MAGA affiliations; yet people are running with the label, namely also calling out the “Dandelion” singers’ few shows on the Kid Rock-led Rock The Country festival.
Still, people online have come to both Wallen and Langley’s defense, after all, this song is a pretty insane pairing of two of the most popular voices. This is Wallen’s first tease of new music for 2026, only his second female duet (following “What I Want” with Tate McRae, who is also no stranger to receiving hate by her own fanbase for the Wallen affiliation), and trails off the continued massive success of Langley’s current Billboard number one album, Dandelion.
For those still excited to hear what these two have up their sleeve, check out their live performance of the new song at last weekend’s show: