Last night, May 17, Riley Green and Ella Langley reclaimed their title as the ACM Music Event of the Year winners for the second time in a row, this time around with their 2024 duet, “Don’t Mind If I Do.”
The back-to-back feat earned them the title as only the second pair of collaborators to win the category in two consecutive years, joining the likes of husband and wife duo Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The only difference being that McGraw and Hill’s acceptances were surely a lot less drama-filled.
Continuing the never-ending saga of the Riley Green Casanova mystery, there’s no doubt that the two’s playful manner, flirting with one another on stage during their early performances of “You Look Like You Love Me,” has grown to be terribly distant and uncomfortable to watch. Just like we can’t quite 100% prove that Megan Moroney hopping into the love triangle mix had something to do with the tension, we also can’t prove that the acceptance speech was VERY uncomfortable, but I think it’s safe to make some assumptions.
For those more evidence-based than purely just the love triangle rumors that Green was flirting with two of the biggest female stars during the same time period, body language expert Inbaal Hongiman, a psychic and astrologer specializing in pop culture events, weighed in on every detail that made Sunday night’s encounter a tough watch. Sure, Green may have held Langley’s hand as they ascended onto the MGM Grand Arena stage together, but Hongiman notes that their distance at the podium was all the proof needed.
“This space between them speaks volumes, as they’re not getting into each other’s space even while celebrating their joint win together. Ella stands a little behind Riley, showing that she’s happy for him to lead their acceptance.” He continues noting that while this may be Green’s song, it’s a little odd that he never hands over the mic to let his counterpart chime in, “Ella looks at Riley while he speaks, perhaps awaiting her turn, or expecting a cue from him, so that she can thank the voters for her win too – but a cue never arrives. Riley gives the whole speech, and Ella is barely included.”
The only time Langley gets a chance to pipe in is their weird little tiff where Green calls out Langley for wearing pajamas to the studio the day she recorded her half of the title track from his third studio album. Standing up for herself, Langley leaned into the mic, affirming, “I had on jeans and a T-shirt, thank you very much.” At which Green quipped back, “She might sleep in those, I don’t know.”
Keeping that well-trained smile plastered on her face, Langley shakes her head and chuckles at the response. Considering there’s been plenty of other previous on-stage moments where these two Alabama natives were visibly cold towards one another, they kept things somewhat cordial sharing a little squeeze at the end of their speech but don’t let it fool you.
“They face away from one another while they hug, as if they don’t want to share the moment and just feel like they should be hugging, not truly wanting to touch each other. There’s a resistance there, and a weird sense of antipathy. The cuddle is not a warm and joyful hug, but rather a forced ‘colleague’ squeeze.” As someone hilariously pointed out on Twitter, this had the same energy as when your mom forces you to hug your sibling.
Now, while I’m not usually a psychic believer and by no means think this analysis is 100% surefire proof, it’s interesting to have an outsider opinion verify what we were all pretty much thinking with Honigman topping things off with, “There must be a lot between Ella and Riley that we don’t know about, because their body language is totally misaligned and they appear reluctant to be too close.” If there’s any truth to the “Choosin’ Texas” cover art being inspired by Moroney and Green’s hometown rendezvous paparazzi pictures, this cold interaction speaks volumes about where the two stand.
Still, Green admirably speaks nothing but praise for the rising star, noting in his speech, “I’m so proud of how far you’ve come, and you continue to surprise everybody with everything you do in your career, and more than anything, I’m really proud of how you represent our hometown state of Alabama.” And whether it was an awkward on-stage moment with a situationship or not, the award also added to her whopping five-category sweep, making her the new reigning artist to bring home the most awards in one night in ACM history (Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Singer Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year).