The 60th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards aired last night live from Frisco, Texas, and pretty much went exactly how you would have expected. With Chris Stapleton winning his fifth Male Vocalist of the Year Award, Lainey Wilson winning her third straight Female Vocalist nod and Old Dominion bringing home their eighth (yes, you read that right) straight trophy for Group of the Year, the winners themselves were fairly predictable.
Of course, there were a few changeups thrown in throughout the night. Notably, Brooks & Dunn dethroned Dan + Shay’s two-year run and brought home Duo of the Year for the first time since 2009 off the back of their new Reboot II album. Additionally, Ella Langley capped off her huge five-award night with a Single of the Year win for “you look like you love me” with Riley Green, beating out stiff competition that included Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” and Cody Johnson’s Song of the Year-winning, “Dirt Cheap.”
As it is with all award shows, all eyes were on the final one of the night: Entertainer of the Year. It goes without saying that Morgan Wallen was the heavy favorite going into the ceremony. Between shattering chart records seemingly every week, notching the highest-selling country tour of all time with One Night At A Time and continuing his streak as being an all-genre superstar, many thought that the “Last Night” singer would follow-up his CMA Entertainer of the Year win back in November with a piece of ACM hardware.
In surprising fashion, however, it was none other than Wilson who brought home her second-straight ACM Entertainer of the Year nod, making her the third woman ever to win the award in back-to-back years (Taylor Swift in 2011 and 2012, Carrie Underwood in 2009 and 2010).
With so many expecting Wallen to notch his long-awaited Entertainer win at the ACMs, fans of the 31-year-old singer/songwriter were not too happy. Plenty of fans sounded off on X to call the award show rigged with a few even calling the “Watermelon Moonshine” singer an industry plant.
Comments on our Instagram post announcing Wilson as the winner were also pretty upset about Wilson’s win, once again claiming the show was rigged.
“There’s literally no way. This sh*t has to be rigged.
“Just change it to Chris and Laney award show this is ridiculous”
“Does not deserve it! Morgan had the top selling shows all year. ACM’s stink!!!”
“Absolutely rigged…”
“These award shows are making me dislike Lainey”
“Cody Johnson ROBBED!!!! Even Chris Stapleton should’ve had a better chance then ‘Lamey Wilson’.”
“Morgan’s tour broke f*cking RECORDS man. I love Lainey but this doesn’t make sense.”
“Morgan Wallen robbed”
“I’m proud of her but I definitely feel Kelsea has worked her butt off this year but I’m glad as a fan she was considered for the nominations”
“Is there an award show that respects actual country music or just pop?”
Despite quite a bit of backlash, there were still plenty of supporters of the “4X4XU” singer. Most notably, Jelly Roll took to X to show his support for Wilson, saying, “In every interview I did on the red carpet I said I was cheering for Lainey and Cody. Lainey is my homie for life. So happy for her her and fiancé are the best people on earth. She works hard and earned this – POINT BLANK AND PERIOD! Lainey is going down as one of the greatest of this era.”
Junk Gypsy, a prominent Texas vintage boutique followed by the likes of Miranda Lambert, Flatland Cavalry and Turnpike Troubadours, also showed their support for Wilson on Instagram, commenting Congrats Lainey! You’re inspiring a generation of girls! The amount of little girls in bell bottom jeans & sequins at shows is stunning, and what more stunning is that they’re all believing in THEIR dreams! You did that! Keep it up!”
A full list of 2025 ACM Award winners is as follows:
Entertainer of the Year
Lainey Wilson
Male Artist of the Year
Chris Stapleton
Female Artist of the Year
Lainey Wilson
Album of the Year
Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson
Single of the Year
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green
Song of the Year
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson
Group of the Year
Old Dominion
Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
New Male Artist of the Year
Zach Top
New Female Artist of the Year
Ella Langley
New Group of the Year
The Red Clay Strays
Artist-Songwriter of the Year
Lainey Wilson
Music Event of the Year
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green
Visual Media of the Year
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green
Songwriter of the Year
Jessie Jo Dillon