Best Plus-One: Jessie Murph

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Who needs a man when you have a miniature pig? Jessie Murph subbed a human date for a four-legged friend: a one-year-old pig named Wilbur. "I needed a date, and I've always wanted a miniature pig, so what a better place to do it than Texas?" she told PEOPLE.

As all good couples do, Murph and Wilbur coordinated their looks — Wilbur went au naturel and Murph rocked a bubblegum pink set.

Best Pregnancy Reveal: Cody and Brandi Johnson

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Cody Johnson’s wife Brandi had the best accessory on the red carpet — a baby bump! The married couple is expecting their third child together, a baby boy. “We decided to make this our announcement to the world and our gender reveal as well," Johnson told PEOPLE.

The two already have two daughters, Clara Mae and Cori. “I didn't care if this one was a boy or a girl, but I was pretty happy when I saw the gender reveal,” Johnson added.

Best of Country Music

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The awards show began with a medley of songs that have earned their place in country music’s canon. Host Reba McEntire kicked off the performance with a rendition of Merle Haggard’s 1969 hit “Okie from Muskogee” before throwing it to Clint Black for “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Wynonna Judd then brought the ACMs to the ‘80s with “Why Not Me,” and LeAnn Rimes gave a magnetic performance of her “Blue” cover from 1996. To round out the A-list lineup, Little Big Town sang “Girl Crush,” and Dan + Shay closed with “Tequila” — featuring a drawn-out high note from Shay Mooney.

Oops… Where’s Morgan Wallen?

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Despite being nominated for six awards, tied for the second most of the night, Morgan Wallen opted to skip this year’s ceremony. The “I Had Some Help” singer hasn’t appeared at an awards show since the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, skipping this year’s Grammys and last year’s CMAs as well.

During the show, Wallen shared a photo on his Instagram Stories revealing his whereabouts: golf with Tom Brady.

Worst Item to Autograph: Jelly for Jelly Roll

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Co-host Bobby Bones met up with Jelly Roll in the crowd to ask the singer to sign a jar of Smucker’s jam. “This is the first time I've ever signed a jar of jelly,” said Jelly Roll.

Bones went across the aisle to greet ACM Triple Crown Award recipient Keith Urban but brushed past him to say hello to Urban’s wife, Nicole Kidman. 

“Nicole, I got you some jelly,” Bones said as he handed her the autographed container. Kidman seemed to receive the gift well, though, and Bones joked later in the night that she still had his jar.

Best Performance to Get Up and Dance to: Lainey Wilson

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No one commands the stage quite like “Lainey fricking Wilson,” which is how Blake Shelton introduced the performer on multiple occasions. Wilson gave an incredible delivery of her song “Whirlwind" in a black leather ensemble and cowboy hat. When the camera panned to the audience, stars could be seen rocking out from their seats.

Best Stage Display: Kelsea Ballerini

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Kelsea Ballerini took the stage to perform her hit song “Baggage” and she was accompanied by actual baggage. The superstar’s set was decorated with an impressive tower of gold suitcases of all sizes. 

Ballerini, who matched the metallics in her own sparkly, low-cut jumpsuit, called it the “biggest performance I’ve had on an award show.”

Oops… They Prefer to Sit

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Host Bobby Bones was making his way around the audience when he stopped by Brooks & Dunn’s Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. Bones tried to encourage the stars to stand up and celebrate their Duo of the Year win but neither would get up on their feet — so he settled and sat down in front of them.

“Did you guys expect to win?” asked Bones. “We did not!” Dunn yelled back at him.

Had the Best Time: Nicole Kidman

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Along with receiving an autographed jelly jar, Nicole Kidman busted out her dance moves as Megan Moroney, Brothers Osborne and Chris Stapleton paid tribute to her husband for his Triple Crown Award. The Babygirl actress seemed to have a blast dancing to Keith Urban’s hits “Stupid Boy,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and “Where the Blacktop Ends” — and the party didn’t stop when he grabbed his guitar to take the stage himself.

Worst Snub: Kelsea Ballerini Goes Home Empty-Handed … Again

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Although Kelsea Ballerini has received nominations for five consecutive years at the ACM Awards, the country superstar went home empty-handed for the fifth year in a row. This year, the “Peter Pan” singer was nominated for entertainer of the year, female artist of the year and music event of the year, losing to Lainey Wilson (twice) and Ella Langley.

In a January 2025 interview with SiriusXM, Ballerini said, "I don't win things. I mean, that sounds really… I don't, and I'm cool with it."

“For me, if you get nominated, that means that sometimes if you're lucky, you get three and a half minutes to sing on a show like the CMAs or the ACMs or the CMTs, and that's an award," she added.