Cody Johnson’s Producer Trent Willmon Explains His Shaboozey Comment

Cody Johnson's producer Trent Willmon explained his comment about Shaboozey

(Left) Michael Buckner / Variety via Getty Images / (Right) Shaboozey / X

What Did Cody Johnson’s Producer Say About Shaboozey At The CMA Awards?

Cody Johnson’s producer, Trent Willmon, broke his silence to explain his comment about Shaboozey at this year’s CMA Awards.

Johnson’s Leather was named Album of the Year during the CMA Awards ceremony on November 20th. Willmon, who produced the album, joined Johnson onstage to celebrate.

Johnson stepped aside to let Willmon say a few words. Willmon complimented Johnson’s work ethic, saying:

It takes an army of people to make a great record, but I gotta tell ya, this is for this cowboy who’s been kicking shaboozey for a lot of years, y’all.

Shaboozey is the singer behind the megahit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” He performed the track, along with his new song, “Highway,” earlier in the night at the CMA Awards.

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Shaboozey, whose real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze, was also nominated for two awards. He was up for Single of the Year and New Artist of the Year. Chris Stapleton ended up winning the former award, while Megan Moroney received the latter.

Some viewers took issue with Willmon’s comment about Shaboozey, and questioned if it was an intentional diss. Others felt that Willmon was simply trying to make a “booty” joke that didn’t quite land.

Shaboozey Responds To The Situation

For his part, Shaboozey appeared to take the whole situation in stride. He seemingly responded to Willmon’s comment after the CMA Awards in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The post includes a picture of Shaboozey shrugging his shoulders, which he captioned, “Ain’t nobody kicking me!

Shaboozey shared a series of follow-up posts expressing how grateful he was to be at the CMA Awards. In one post, he wrote:

I’m here today hopefully living in my purpose and if my music makes even the tiniest positive impact in someone’s life I can die with a smile. Country music changed my life and I’m forever grateful to it and for it.

Cody Johnson’s Producer Trent Willmon Breaks His Silence About His Shaboozey Comment

On November 22, Willmon broke his silence to explain his comment about Shaboozey at the CMA Awards. He said:

Ok… what I meant to express in my overly-shocked and excited state was that I am very proud of @codyjohnson. He has worked his BOOTY off the last 15 years putting out and performing great music and it’s not an overnight success. I was so proud he’s finally getting recognized!

Willmon also congratulated Shaboozey on the success he’s experienced with “A Bar Song.”

And shout out to Shaboozey for your response to my fumble and having a great sense of humor, congrats on that 17-Week #1 Song!” Willmon said.

You can see Willmon’s post explaining his Shaboozey comment below.