Morgan Wallen was notably absent on the 2025 ACM Awards red carpet on Thursday night (May 8), and as the show began, it seemed more and more likely that the Entertainer of the Year nominee wasn’t planning to make an appearance at all.

Of course, it wasn’t a huge surprise: Leading up to the show, Wallen was always sort of a “maybe” in most fans’ minds.

That’s because he previously skipped the CMA Awards in 2024, and despite the fact that he won that show’s Entertainer title, he didn’t even make a comment about his big win after the fact.

Four months later, he finally did mention his award, sort of — he posted a photo of his trophy as one of the slides in a social media recap.

Read More: Why Wasn’t Morgan Wallen at the 2024 CMA Awards?

Wallen’s absence from the CMAs might have been partially circumstantial, since it came as part of an extended break from the spotlight. But it also seemed like a pretty good bet that country music’s biggest superstar might be trying to distance himself a bit from awards shows.

So, Where Was Morgan During the 2025 ACM Awards?

Wallen hasn’t issued any official comment about what he’s doing on ACMs night.

However, his social media does provide some clues. Just hours before the show kicked off, he posted a photo to his Instagram Stories of himself on a golf course with legendary football quarterback Tom Brady, as the two men toss a football back and forth.

He didn’t offer up any more details about where they were, but looking over at Tom Brady’s social media posts, you can see several photos of what appears to be a similar-looking golf course on the football legend’s Instagram Stories. He tagged one of those shots in the Northern Ireland town of Newcastle.

That means that if Wallen and Brady’s stories are current, Wallen isn’t just absent from the ACM Awards — he’s absent from the country!

• This year marks the ACM’s milestone 60th anniversary show.
• It includes performances from stars like Eric Church, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert and others.
• If Wallen wins Entertainer of the Year, it’ll mark the second consecutive awards show where he has won the biggest trophy of the night without being there to accept it.

The 2025 ACM Awards are streaming live on Amazon Prime Video from Frisco, Texas’ Ford Center. Reba McEntire is hosting.

Remember: The best way to watch the ACM Awards is on TV, with ToC on your phone.