Jeff Bridges is many things – and “legendary actor” is certainly one of them. Bridges didn’t just bring The Dude to life in 1998 The Great Lebowski, he created one of the most beloved (and imitated) cinematic characters of the past 30 years, but he beautifully portrayed an alcoholic country singer in 2009’s Crazy heart and won the Oscar for Best Actor for it.

Shortly afterwards Crazy heartBridges – who played guitar with Kris Kristofferson when the two worked together in the ’80s Heavenly Gate – began to take music more seriously in a professional sense. After performing live a few times and trying to cover some country classics, Bridges recorded his own self-titled album of country music in 2011 with legendary producer T Bone Burnett.

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So yes, he is an actor, a singer and a legend. But it doesn’t seem like Bridges is a particularly attentive listener when it comes to country music these days, at least based on his performance at the 2024 CMA Awards on Wednesday (Nov. 20). While presenting Entertainer of the Year (the Country Music Association’s highest honor) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Bridges announced that Morgan Wallen — one of today’s most popular artists in any genre of music — was the winner. But instead of pronouncing Wallen as, well, Wallen, Bridges said “Morgan Waylon” (or maybe “Morgan Whalen” – maybe he read Moby Dick recently).

“Morgan’s not here, man. Morgan couldn’t make it tonight, so I’m going to accept it on his behalf,” Bridges said after messing with the last name pronunciation.

“Let’s hear it for Morgan!” he continued as 2024 CMA co-hosts Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson stormed the stage, relieving him at that point with some closing remarks and jokes about their custom CMA host t-shirts.

Wallen, Waylon. Tomato, tomato. You can’t always be right, right? And it’s nothing a white Russian – or a rug that really ties a room together – can’t solve.

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