ACMs recap

Lainey Wilson wins big at 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco

Lainey Wilson, winner of the Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, and Music Event of the Year at the ACMs.

Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images

It was Lainey Wilson ’s night, in many ways. She took home female artist of the year and the top prize of entertainer of the year at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards.

The ACMs were held at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco for the second year in a row; country music legend Reba McEntire hosted.

“I’ve been in Nashville for 13 years doing this,” Wilson started her acceptance speech. “Everybody in this category has loved on me and believed on me,” she added. “And I love y’all for that.”

She joins an exclusive category of few women to earn the top prize: Miranda Lambert was named entertainer of the year in 2022. In 2020, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for the title, the first time ever for a tie and the first time a woman had won the category since Taylor Swift in 2012.

Wilson also opened the 59th annual ACMs with a cover of Little Texas’ “God Blessed Texas,” flawlessly jumping into her new single, “Hang Tight Honey.” Afterward, Clay Walker and Randy Travis presented Jordan Davis with song of the year for his ubiquitous country radio hit “Next Thing You Know.”

“First off, I want to thank the fans for loving this song,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I love songwriting because of songs that won song of the year, so to be holding this right now is crazy.”

Music event of the year also went to Wilson — and Jelly Roll, for his smash “Save Me.”

“No pun intended, but seriously, this song saved me,” Jelly Roll said in his speech. “I thought I would die and go to jail,” he said while getting emotional — and instead, he celebrated being an ACM award winner.

In one of the most anticipated performances of the show, Jason Aldean lit up the stage in a moving tribute to the late Toby Keith.

He gave the crowd a poignant, acoustic performance of Keith’s classic “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” as the audience sang along, and Keith’s family watched from the crowd.

Across his career, Keith took home 14 ACM Awards, twice winning the top prize of entertainer of the year. He died in February at age 62, following a diagnosis of stomach cancer.

Album and male artist of the year went to Chris Stapleton. “There’s so many great guys in that category and I’m happy just to be included in this company,” he said in his acceptance speech.

And when it came time to perform his new song “Think I’m in Love with You,” he was joined by a very special guest: Dua Lipa.

It wasn’t the only surprise: Post Malone debuted a brand-new song, “Never Love You Again,” which bled into his huge new single with Morgan Wallen “I Had Some Help.” Wallen did not perform.

Instead, afterward, McEntire joined Post Malone to duet a little bit of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Ramblin’ Man” in tribute to Dickey Betts, who died last month. He was 80.

Earlier in the evening, Luke Combs — the most nominated artist of the night, with eight — took home single of the year for his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Last year, Chapman’s 1988 song won song of the year at the Country Music Awards for Combs’ cover, making her the first Black songwriter to win in the category.

Dan and Shay and Old Dominion took home the prize for duo and group of the year, respectively.

Performances hit fast and furious: Jelly Roll launched into a rocking rendition of his new song “Liar,” followed closely by Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan — doing her song “Mountain with a View” into his viral hit “Stick Season.”

Tigirlily Gold did “I Tried A Ring On,” Texas-born Cody Johnson brought his “Dirt Cheap,” and Miranda Lambert debuted her new single “Wranglers.”

Kane Brown did a moving cover of “Georgia On My Mind.” Thomas Rhett did “Beautiful As You” and everyone’s favorite couple Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani brought the lovely “Purple Irises” to the ACM stage.

Park McCollum did his hit “Burn It Down,” new male artist of the year winner Nate Smith and pop-punk powerhouse Avril Lavigne performed their new one, “Bulletproof,” and host McEntire closed out the show with her new single, “I Can’t.”

The ACM Awards were livestreamed on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live.

Complete list of winners:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Lainey Wilson

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Lainey Wilson

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Chris Stapleton

DUO OF THE YEAR

Dan + Shay

GROUP OF THE YEAR

Old Dominion

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Megan Moroney

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Nate Smith

NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

Tigirlily Gold

ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

Higher - Chris Stapleton

Producers: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton

Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville

SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

Fast Car - Luke Combs

Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton

Record Company-Label: River House Artists / Columbia Nashville

SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

Next Thing You Know - Jordan Davis

Songwriters: Chase McGill, Greylan James, Jordan Davis, Josh Osborne

Publishers: Family Farm Songs; Hold On Can I Get A Number 1 Music; Songs of Universal Inc.

VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]

Burn It Down - Parker McCollum

Produces: Christen Pinkston &Wesley Stebbins-Perry

Director: Dustin Haney

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Jessie Jo Dillon

ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Chris Stapleton

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

Save Me - Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)

Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens

Record Company-Label: Stoney Creek Records / BMG Nashville

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Stephanie Allmon Merry contributed to this report.

celebrities entertainer of the year lainey wilson prime video reba mcentire post malone music awards

Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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