Leaning in. Kelsea Ballerini earned such a big response after changing her “Blindsided” lyrics on Saturday Night Live that she released new merchandise to go with the shady verse.
During her SNL debut on Saturday, March 4, the country singer, 29, included a new section at the end of the track, which addressed her divorce from Morgan Evans with an unexpected addition.
“Now you’re singing out loud on the radio, like you’re the only heart that breaks,” she sang. “You would’ve searched the whole world over? Yeah. Sure. OK.”
The Tennessee native released shirts that feature “Yeah. Sure. OK.” on Tuesday, March 7, via her official merch shop. The off-white T-shirt simply features the phrase in bold black text on the chest while the singer’s name is on the back of the neck. The “YSO” shirt retails for $35.
Ballerini first announced that she and Evans decided to part ways after nearly five years of marriage in August 2022.
“Friends, I’ve always tried my best to share my life with you in a real and vulnerable way, while also protecting layers of my personal life as they unfold,” the Grammy nominee wrote via her Instagram Story at the time. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce.”
She concluded: “This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth, and effort that ultimately has come to an end. It’s hard to find the words here … but I feel extremely grateful for the years of marriage to Morgan and hopeful for the next seasons. With very active schedules coming up, please be mindful that we are both fragile, actively healing, and showing up the best we can.”
Ballerini and Evans have both offered glimpses of their relationship and its demise through their music following their breakup. Evans dropped his own single, “Over for You,” in September 2022, which hinted that he was surprised by the split. The exes finalized their divorce two months later.
“How long have you been breaking? Why am I just finding out? How long has it been over for you?” he asks in the song.
He also sings, “I would have searched the whole world over for you,” in the chorus, which was seemingly the line Ballerini referenced in her tweaked SNL lyrics.
Her February EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, addresses her divorce in detail and features the song “Blindsided,” which appeared to take shots at Evans even before her lyric switch.
“And now you’re saying that you’re lost / And that’s lost on me,” Ballerini sings on the breakup tune. “Years of sitting across from me in therapy / I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find / Baby, were you blindsided or were you just blind?”
After the EP dropped, Ballerini explained in a statement that she “wasn’t worried about anything other than presenting the songs as honestly as possible” and that the record is how she “processed” her marriage ending.
“It’s the way I got my feelings out of my body and heart and put them to music, which is the purest way I could’ve handled it,” she explained at the time.
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She has since moved on with Outer Banks star Chase Stokes, who she was first linked to in January. Ballerini’s new beau was in New York City to support her amid her SNL debut.
