Sammy Kershaw got an answer on Monday, November 9. The Country Music Association posted a statement on Instagram. It responded to the 68-year-old singer’s complaint that he had been denied a spot on the red carpet at the 2026 CMA Awards, according to Just Jared.
CMA Issues Statement on Sammy Kershaw’s Red Carpet Denial
Nothing was reversed. In its Instagram statement on Monday, the CMA said it had put rules in place to “help manage limited space and the security needs” of both artists and media.
Then came the apology, of a kind. The association said it was deeply sorry anyone felt excluded by those decisions. Sorry for the feeling, not the call.
Just Jared reported that the statement leaned heavily on the occasion. This is the CMA’s 60th anniversary year, and the organization said it is trying to spotlight six decades of country music while also celebrating 2026, all in one night.
Kershaw Calls Decision Hurtful and Disappointing
Kershaw went public the week before. He said the CMA turned down his request to walk the carpet for a few minutes, and he did not say what reason, if any, he was given.
His request was specific. He wanted to walk it with his wife, Mendy, as the two had done before.
Kershaw explained that his touring schedule usually keeps him away from events like this, and that he rearranged it this time so he could be there with her. He then listed his credentials: more than 50 years in the business, more than two dozen Billboard charted hits, a CMA Horizon Award nomination, and a lifetime CMA membership presented to him in 1992. He added that the CMA had asked him to donate his time to play CMA Fest.
He called the decision “extremely hurtful, embarrassing and very disappointing.” He closed with a darker line, suggesting the next time he attends the CMAs it might be as the subject of a tribute after he’s gone.
Read closely, his statement is about more than a carpet. A man who rarely gets a night off planned one around his wife, and the night shrank in front of her. Embarrassing is the word that matters there. Being turned away alone stings. Being turned away with the person you love standing next to you is a different kind of injury, because there is now a witness to it, and the witness is the one person whose opinion of you counts most.
CMA Aims to Make All Artists Feel Welcome
Kershaw’s team is now in contact with the association. The CMA said it is in touch with his camp and looks forward to continuing that conversation.
The statement also said the organization is committed to keep listening and finding ways to make sure all artists feel welcome. Welcome is a softer promise than access. Nothing in the statement says Kershaw and his wife will be on the carpet.
Both sides have now spoken, and they are talking past each other. The CMA is describing logistics. Sammy Kershaw is describing a slight against a career and a marriage. An apology for how someone felt rarely lands with the person who felt it, because it treats the hurt as the problem instead of the decision that caused it.
Upcoming 2026 CMA Awards Set for November 18
The awards air on November 18, nine days after the statement went up. Just Jared did not report any change to the red carpet rules.
Whether Sammy Kershaw attends at all, with or without the carpet, is still unknown. So is what the conversation between his team and the CMA has produced.
Sources: Just Jared, Parade
