Kelsea Ballerini Shares Shocking New Details Of ‘Nasty’ Divorce, Morgan Evans Responds

Morgan Evans broke his silence after Kelsea Ballerini’s bombshell comments about their divorce in a recent podcast. 

The 37-year-old Australian-born singer/songwriter took to social media on Tuesday (Feb. 21) to share a statement with his followers, addressing Ballerini’s recent remarks about their divorce.

“It’s really sad for me to see this person, who I spent so much of my life with, and loved with all my heart, saying things that aren’t reality and that leave out what really happened,” Evans wrote. ”She knows I’m not the type of guy to speak on these things publicly.”

He went on to say, “If this is what she needs to heal, I hope it helps. All I ask is that if you’re on my pages, please don’t be mean. Don’t be mean to Kelsea, don’t be mean to each other. Life’s too short.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Morgan Evans (@morganevansmusic)

Ballerini’s Call Her Daddy Podcast Interview

Evans’ response comes after a teaser of Ballerini’s interview with Alexandra Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast, was shared on social media. 

In the sneak peek clip, the “HEARTFIRST” singer, who comes from a divorced family, admitted she “didn’t want to have a wedding” and that things “got nasty” after their divorce. 

“I swore I would never get married,” she said. “I think he loved me more at 23 and I love me more at 29.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CALL HER DADDY (@callherdaddy)

Ballerini went on to comment on Evans’ latest single, “Over For You,” as well as their divorce settlement. 

“As he’s putting out a song about being blindsided, he’s taking half the house that he didn’t pay for,” Ballerini said, which she also references in her new song “Mountain With A View.”

She then questioned, “How was I married to this person for this long and I had no idea that that bit of character was tucked within that human being?”

Is Kelsea Ballerini Single?

She also confirmed that she is no longer single before Cooper asked if she is in fact dating Outer Banks’ star Chase Stokes. It’s unclear what Ballerini’s answer was as the clip ended without airing her answer.

During a separate sneak peek of the podcast episode shared by PEOPLE, Ballerini, 29, made comments about the events that led to their breakup. 

Bombshell Comments

According to Ballerini, their relationship “took work for a long time.” Her shocking comments also revealed that she and Evans split up multiple times before their divorce was made public.

“There were separations, there was years of couples therapy. There was like, many a night of sleeping on the couch,” she shared. “I don’t think it was the first night, but it was a night where I was like, this is not what I want.”

In her new song, “Blindsided,” Ballerini sings about a “big fight” she had with Evans before a “big show” in 2019. The lyrics include, “I slept on the couch and then the next night you put on your suit / I put on a smile and sang about how it’s okay to cry, dying inside.”

It’s now known that she was referring to the 53rd Annual CMA Awards, where she performed “homecoming queen” and walked the red carpet with Evans. She further elaborated on that argument in the podcast interview.

“I slept on the couch the night before the CMAs and I remember I went to rehearsal at the arena and texting him and being like, ‘I’ll just see you at the carpet,’” Ballerini explained.

“Disconnection”

She said there was “such a sense of disconnection” and confessed that they often didn’t make an effort to see each other. Because of this, she became “resentful” and “tired of showing up in that way all the time and not feeling like I was seen or matched.”

Ballerini’s episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast premieres exclusively on Wednesday, February 22, via Spotify.

The interview comes just days after Ballerini released a vulnerable six-track EP, titled Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, which she wrote after her highly-publicized divorce from Evans. Throughout the EP, Ballerini nonchalantly shared new details of their split within the lyrics.

“Over For You”

In October of 2022, Evans shared a post-divorce single, “Over For You,” which finds the singer/songwriter addressing the demise of his relationship with Ballerini and confessing that he was blindsided by their breakup.

Rolling Up The Welcome Mat

On Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, Kelsea Ballerini seemingly responds to Evans’ tune that finds him questioning “how long has it been over for you?” In Ballerini’s song, “Mountain With A View,” she sings, “I realize you loved me much more at twenty-three / I think that this is when it’s over for me,” which seems to be an indirect response to Evans’ question.

Kelsea Ballerini filed for divorce from Evans after nearly five years of marriage in August of 2022. ”This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce,” she wrote in a statement on social media. 

At the time, Evans also shared the news of their divorce, writing “I am very sad to confirm that after almost five years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise, but sadly it is not.”

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Ballerini and Evans reached a divorce settlement in October of 2022, which unveiled details that the pair had “vacated” the home they shared in Nashville. 

The couple’s divorce was finalized in mid-November of 2022.