Morgan Wallen won the 2024 CMA Entertainer of the Year Awardbut the only problem was he wasn’t even there to pick it up.

The sometimes controversial country singer has gained notable fame in recent years, and in 2024, he rose to the top of the country music scene to take home the top prize at the 58th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena from Nashville, Wednesday evening. Except Wallen wasn’t there to accept the award in person.

The lack of a winner to award a prize sent host Jeff Bridges into “The Dude” from “The Big Lebowski” mode with a “Morgan’s not here maaaaaan.” Bridges accepted the award on his behalf.

“Morgan couldn’t make it tonight, so I’m going to accept this award on his behalf,” Bridges told the crowd Wednesday night. “Alright, let’s hear it for Morgan!”

Now the question remains: Where was Wallen Wednesday night?

Where was Morgan Wallen last night?

It’s still unclear why the 31-year-old singer was absent from last night’s event. He finished his One Night at a Time tour in October and reportedly has no further appearances planned for Wednesday.

Wallen’s absence was a strange turn of events Wednesday night, but it’s even stranger that the singer didn’t acknowledge the award on any social media or in a statement Thursday morning.

Radio silence makes people think where was Wallen and if everything was okay. Other fans are celebrating his win and the “boss move” he pulled by not showing up while also lobbing criticism at the CMAs for what they considered snubs in the past.

And Wallen and the CMAs have a history. He was deemed ineligible for solo awards ― as Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year ― by the CMAs in 2021 after being filmed using racist slurs. He was also banned from receiving awards at ACM and CMT award discounts for the same incident.

This ineligibility did not last long. Wallen was nominated for Entertainer of the Year for the CMAs in 2022 and 2023.

Has Morgan Wallen ever won the CMA Entertainer of the Year?

This was Wallen’s first win as CMA Entertainer of the Year and his second CMA award overall.

Who else has been nominated for the 2024 CMA Entertainer of the Year?

Chris Stapleton, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and Luke Combs were the other 2024 nominees.

This article was originally published on Nashville Tennessean: Why wasn’t Morgan Wallen at the CMAs? Entertainer of the year misses show