Kelsea Ballerini has fans wondering whether she not-so-subtly referenced Madelyn Cline on her newest EP, Mount Pleasant.
“I always liked the color of my eyes ’til I knew she had brown / I’m green,” Ballerini, 32, sings on “Emerald City,” which dropped Friday, November 14. “Always liked my naive innocence ’til I learned she got around / I’m green.”
She adds, “If I got you, why does she still get me? / I hate to say it, but damn, she’s pretty / Never known this shade of envy / Just tell me I’m your Emerald City.”
Fans immediately began speculating that the track could be about Ballerini’s feelings toward her partner’s ex.
Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes didn’t roll up the welcome mat on their relationship — even during their brief time apart. The pair “never really stopped being in touch after their brief split,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, after confirming that Ballerini, 32, and Stokes, 33, “are back together.” News broke in September that […]
“Kelsea Ballerini ‘Emerald City’…. Madelyn Cline? 🧐,” one fan wrote via X, with another adding, “Well, that was a good EP. There was one song where she recounts fighting Madelyn Cline for Stokes.”
A separate social media user claimed, “She wrote a song about Maddie called ‘Emerald City’ and refers to herself as green.”
A fourth fan, meanwhile, clapped back at individuals perpetuating feud rumors after hearing the track.
“Madelyn Cline & ‘Chaddie’ stans spent Kelsea/Chase’s entire relationship comparing them & saying how miserable he looked with her, hoping he’d leave her for Maddie,” the X user wrote. “Now that kelsea says she felt jealous & insecure because of that they attack her for it ijbol.”
“Emerald City” is the third song on Ballerini’s Mount Pleasant EP.
“I’m not crazy / I’m just a girl, kinda jealous, kinda insecure / And I hate how it takes me / down an old road where she used to be yours,” the musician sings in the bridge. “Tough to admit it, but it might break me / Let me know you hate to see me hurt / ’Til one day, it won’t faze me / Thinking about you, thinking about her / I’m good as gold, but when she’s around / My true color comes out.”
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While Ballerini has not revealed her “Emerald City” lyrical inspiration, fans have noticed that the track’s lyrics describe a woman who bears a resemblance to Cline, 27. Just as Ballerini’s eyes are green, Cline’s are brown. The line “she got around,” meanwhile, was interpreted by some as a subtle reference to Cline’s star-studded dating history.
Cline has been linked to Pete Davidson, Zack Bia, Jackson Guthry and Prince Constantine-Alexios of Greece after dating Chase Stokes from 2019 to 2020. The two actors play a couple on Netflix’s Outer Banks.
Cline and Stokes, 33, have maintained an amicable working relationship since they broke up. In that time, Stokes moved on with Ballerini in 2023, where the Grammy nominee subsequently stated that she hasn’t felt “threatened” by her boyfriend’s friendship with Cline.
Kelsea Ballerini is the epitome of shooting your shot, famously sliding into now-boyfriend Chase Stokes’ direct messages to introduce herself. The country singer, 30, took to Instagram on Saturday, September 16 to celebrate the Outer Banks actor on his 31st birthday. Ballerini shared several photos and videos with Stokes, including a snap of the pair […]
“I met [Madelyn] and I talked to her and she’s lovely and I think she’s wildly talented,” Ballerini said on a 2023 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I think the internet did its best to make it really weird and it just didn’t work for them. I’m stoked to be on set and vibe with everyone.”
Amid Ballerini’s romance with Stokes, she had a chance to visit him and Cline on the set of Outer Banks.
“I think [Chase and Madelyn] have a beautiful working relationship and I’m excited to hang with her,” she told podcaster Alex Cooper. “People want drama, they don’t want consistency and happiness. … I don’t feel insecure with my relationship and I don’t feel insecure about myself.”
Kelsea Ballerini has no problem with her boyfriend, Chase Stokes, working with his ex Madelyn Cline on Outer Banks. During a Wednesday, November 29, appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, host Alex Cooper asked Ballerini, 30, to weigh in on speculation that she feels “threatened” by Stokes, 31, and Cline, 25, spending time together. […]
Ballerini and Stokes briefly called it quits earlier this year but reunited in November.
“[They] never really stopped being in touch after their brief split,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “They really picked up where they left off. Kelsea wanted to give it another chance and missed Chase a lot.”
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The insider further revealed that Ballerini and Stokes have “worked through some of their ‘issues’” and are hopeful about their relationship trajectory moving forward.
“Chase never wanted the breakup,” the source added to Us. “[He] always felt there was something between them and believed they just needed time to cool off and figure things out.”
Mount Pleasant is out now.
