Fact Check: Did Chris Stapleton file 'official objection' to Beyonce's Best Country Album Grammy win?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Beyonce won the Grammy for Best Country Album for 'Cowboy Carter' earlier in February which made some critics question her win. Many believed that her album did not deserve to win the prestigious award.
Amid the controversies, a rumor circulated online claiming that Country singer Chris Stapleton filed an official objection after Beyonce's 'Cowboy Carter' won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Country Album. But is there any truth to this? Let's find out below.
Claim: Chris Stapleton filed 'official objection' to Beyonce's Grammy win for best country album
In February 2025, a rumor circulated across social media platforms claiming that country artist Chris Stapleton had filed an "official objection" after Beyonce's 'Cowboy Carter' won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Country Album.
A Facebook post on February 16 included an image that featured an alleged quote from Stapleton. The text in the picture read, "CHRIS STAPLETON HAS FILED AN OFFICIAL OBJECTION TO BEYONCÉ'S GRAMMY WIN."
It continued, "Country music has a rich history and a distinct sound that deserves to be recognized and celebrated. We need to ensure that the awards reflect the true essence of the genre and honor those who have dedicated their lives to it. -Chris Stapleton."
The repost of the image on Facebook has so far crossed more than 554k likes and more than 34k comments at the time of filing this story.
False: No evidence to prove that Chris Stapleton made such statements
The claim made in the online rumor is completely false as there is no demonstrable evidence to support the claim, according to Snopes.
Moreover, no credible news outlet reported that Stapleton filed any objection to Beyoncé's win for Best Country Album, per Snopes.
Furthermore, a Google search for the quote from the February 16 Facebook post did not give any proof that Stapleton said those words, the outlet mentioned.
Stapleton's official website or his official social media pages also did not mention any objection to Beyoncé's win.
Interestingly, fact-checking website Lead Stories also looked into the claim and traced it to a February 9 post on a website named Fancy 4 Work.
According to Lead Stories, that website showed hallmarks of being "a content farm or spam network" instead of a legitimate news organization.
John Rich blames Grammy politics for Beyonce’s win
Big & Rich’s John Rich called out Beyonce's win for Best Country Album for 'Cowboy Carter' and slammed the Grammys, blaming industry politics for awarding her over Lainey Wilson.
He took to X (formerly Twitter) on February 3 and wrote, "Folks are asking me "how do music award shows work?" Labels/publishers all have blocks of votes. They make deals with each other "you vote for mine, we'll vote for yours" type thing."
Folks are asking me "how do music award shows work?" Labels/publishers all have blocks of votes. They make deals with each other "you vote for mine, we'll vote for yours" type thing. It has ZERO to do with who made the best music, thus, Beyonce with "Country album of the year."…
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) February 3, 2025
He added, "It has ZERO to do with who made the best music, thus, Beyonce with "Country album of the year." Nice, right? The same thing is true with the CMA's, ACM's, Billboard, etc...all work exactly the same. Last night, the Grammy's outed themselves in a big way."
Notably, Beyonce won the Best Country Album award by defeating other notable nominees like Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, and Chris Stapleton.
Apart from her country album win, She also won Album of the Year and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for 'II Most Wanted' alongside Miley Cyrus.
