Jana Kramer came to fellow country singer Morgan Evans’ defense after Chase Stokes slammed him over his recent comments about his and Kelsea Ballerini’s divorce.
“I literally cannot even — I don’t even know where to start — because I love Kelsea, don’t get me wrong, but she had a full EP about her divorce, went on ‘Call Her Daddy’ [and] talked about how she’s paid half [in their split],” Kramer, 42, said on the Monday, March 9, episode of her “Whine Down” podcast.
Kramer — who has publicly discussed her divorce from Mike Caussin for years — confessed that she’s not immune to telling her side of the story, but still backed Evans, 40, after he said on the Tuesday, March 3, episode of “The BobbyCast” podcast that his divorce from Ballerini, 32, took him “by surprise.” (Ballerini and Evans split in August 2022 after more than four years of marriage.)
Evans called that time period a “blur” and he felt he was mischaracterized in the press. “I think maybe I was presented, or made out to be, or became an archetype for any guy that had done any woman wrong during that period of time. Like, some of the stuff was just like … ‘What? What are you even talking about?’” Evans confessed.
“Listen, I bitch about it all the time too, I do,” Kramer said on her podcast, clarifying, “I’m not saying [Kelsea] bitched about it. What I’m saying [is] she’s said her piece.”
Kramer noted that when Evans went on “one podcast years later,” he was raked over the coals, which she didn’t agree with.
Following his podcast appearance, Stokes, who dated Ballerini following her divorce from Evans, called him out for his remarks in a since-deleted social media comment.
“This is about the most pathetic excuse of masculinity I’ve ever seen. Get a f***ing life,” Stokes, 33, wrote.
Kramer, for her part, said that Evans was “so sweet,” at least publicly, after he and Ballerini separated.
“How he’s been behind the doors don’t care, whatever,” Kramer told her cohosts Kathryn Woodard and Kristen Brust. (Brust claimed she’s seen Evans’ text exchanges and he “has not said anything” negative about Ballerini.)
Kramer recalled having a similar experience with Evans at the airport “soon-ish” after he and Ballerini called it quits.
“He was sad and we were just chatting. He was so lovely. Didn’t say one bad thing about her, not one,” Kramer claimed. “So I just am, like, he has a right to say that he thinks that he was unfairly characterized in the narrative.”
When one of Kramer’s cohosts asked, “Where does the masculinity part come in?” she confessed, “Not a clue.”
Kramer could only speculate that Stokes was referring to the fact that Evans was “speaking about” his and Ballerini’s divorce and that didn’t sit well with him.
“Why are we bullying other people in comments?” Kramer then asked. “Hello? Yeah, get an effing life? Are you serious?”
When her podcast counterparts called Stokes’ remarks “really immature,” Kramer brought up the fact that Bobby Bones — who conducted Evans’ interview — made a really good point when addressing the backlash.
“He kind of turned it around and goes, ‘Where I look at it is that someone must be struggling with their own masculinity to say something like that,’” Kramer recalled. “Because anytime anyone ever says anything bad about us or whatever, they’re in their own personal struggle.”
The One Tree Hill alum explained, “I’m not trying to come on here and be like, ‘Chase, you’re a bully,’ but to leave a comment like that, you must be going through something.”
Kramer added, “And I hope that you know you can look inward on why you did that and what you’re going through to leave that kind of comment.”
Kramer pointed out that even if Stokes was trying to be some sort of “hero” and back Ballerini — despite having recently split for the third time — Evans has every “right” to talk about his past marriage.
“She said she has said more things than he has said in songs and interviews,” Kramer said, referring to Ballerini openly discussing her and Evans’ ups and downs over the past few years.
Kramer added that in the wake of Stokes and Ballerini’s own highs and lows, the Outer Banks actor has “gotten probably a bunch of comments as of late because of things that it’s his own anger coming out.” (Us Weekly confirmed in February that Ballerini and Stokes had called it quits one month after reconciling. They dated on and off starting in 2023.)
She told her cohosts that Stokes “can have grace for that,” but said he should be a better “example” of how not to comment on people’s posts.
Kramer also pointed out that she can “understand Kelsea’s disdain for having to pay” Evans money after their divorce that “wasn’t maybe his earned [income],” but that doesn’t excuse Stokes slamming her ex-husband.
“I get that, and I’ve said it in interviews. It still makes me angry, you know. So I get that piece,” Kramer concluded. “And [Morgan] also has a right to say things too.”
Evans, meanwhile, poked fun at Stokes’ comments via Instagram on Thursday, March 5. “Feeling pretty masculine today,” he wrote. “Album out in 2 weeks!”
Us Weekly previously reached out to Ballerini’s rep for comment.
