Carly Pearce Says Lainey Wilson and Kelsea Ballerini Texted Her After Concert Heckler Moment: 'They've Got My Back'

Mar. 15, 2025

Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce and Kelsea Ballerini.Photo:Presley Ann/Getty; Taylor Hill/WireImage; Jason Kempin/Getty

Presley Ann/Getty; Taylor Hill/WireImage; Jason Kempin/Getty

Lainey WilsonandKelsea Balleriniare girl’s girls.

In a Wednesday, Aug. 14 appearance onThe Viall Filespodcast with Nick Viall,Carly Pearceopened up about the love — and backlash — she received after shehad a heckler removed from her setat We Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota on Aug. 2.

“So many people have said it’s awesome that you stood up for yourself,” Pearce, 34, said. “There’s of course other people who are like, ‘You shouldn’t have said those words.’ And it’s like, ‘I understand but haven’t you been a human and blown up at any point in your life?'”

She continued, “I’ve had other female country artists be like, ‘Thank you for showing we are just like anybody else. We shouldn’t be held to this standard that we can’t call somebody out.”

When asked who specifically reached out, Pearce said Ballerini, 30, and Wilson, 32, texted her within five minutes of each other.

“That’s how I knew it got viral,” she said. “I was like, ‘Uh oh. This isn’t good.’ But they were so supportive and it was girls aligned in that moment. I think it’s great.”

“Nobody really understands. The females in country music, there’s so few of us. When you have that kind of support from people that you love and are genuinely building you up, they’re like ‘I see you’ and they understand it on a level that my girlfriend isn’t going to understand,” she continued. “I’m glad to know they’ve got my back too.”

Carly Pearce performs in Nashville in April 2024.Jason Kempin/Getty

Jason Kempin/Getty

When the “What He Didn’t Do” singeropened up to PEOPLEabout the moment earlier this month, she said people should be “reprimanded for their actions.”

“You can’t be mean to people and expect people to tolerate it,” she said. “Especially as women, we’re conditioned to kind of just take it, and I want that stigma to go away because we deserve to be able to stand up for ourselves. People need to be nicer. I hope that people are nicer and maybe think a little before they speak.”

At the festival, the “Next Girl” singer briefly paused her set before revealing that the attendee who was removed was being “mean” and treating her with “disrespect.”

“If you’re gonna be an assh—, then you’re gonna have to say it to me and get the f— out of my show,” she continued. “I do not have time for dicks. See ya later.”

While it was unclear what the man said to prompt her reaction, Godfrey wrote in a follow-up post that when Pearce told the crowd she “wanted to tell you all a little about me,” the man yelled “no one cares.”

source: people.com