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Kelsea Ballerini acknowledged she “could have been a bit more gentle,” when she released Rolling Up The Welcome Mat.
The powerful and deeply vulnerable 6-track EP made its surprise debut on Valentine’s Day in 2023. The EP and its accompanying short film arrived months after Ballerini’s divorce from Australian singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, 40. The project shared Ballerini’s side of the story of heartbreak (and the road to healing) after the split.
Ballerini, 32, spoke about Rolling Up The Welcome Mat during a recent show in Sydney, Australia. Videos filmed by concertgoers circulated on TikTok and Instagram, showing the emoment that Ballerini told the audience, “I could have been more gentle,” with the EP. “It's hard to say I regret it, because I love it and I'm proud of it and it's honest. But at the same time, a lot of people were hurt because of that project.”
Rolling Up The Welcome Mat included “Mountain With A View,” “Just Married,” “Penthouse,” “Interlude,” “Blindsided” and “Leave Me Again.” Months later, she released Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good), which included a new song about dating again after divorce, and updated versions of fan-favorite tracks. The 2026 Grammy nominee extended the interlude, released the “Yeah, Sure, Okay” version of “Blindsided,” and the live, “Healed Version” of “Penthouse.”
Ballerini recently said she’d pull “Penthouse” from her setlist if she continues to hear “disrespectful” comments from the audience. The live recording appears to catch a concertgoer yelling “f*** you, Morgan,” just after Ballerini sings the lyric, “it stings rolling up the welcome mat knowing you got half.” Ballerini has had to stop fans from continuing to yell the profanity during her performances, and reacted to another heckler during her show in Sydney, Australia. Some fans and reports stated that the concertgoer shouted “Team Morgan,” while others said he shouted “f*** you, Morgan.”
“F*** off,” Ballerini replied, rolling her eyes as she paused the performance. “Team ‘everyone’s happy.’” She later shared a clip of that moment on her Instagram story, and wrote on the since-expired slide: “Respectfully, if anyone yells anything disrespectful to anyone during this song again, it will no longer be on the setlist. Please let this be a song that matters to people and not a place to insert yourself into a world that doesn't exist and was never yours to begin with. Team everyone’s happy or bust. Please.”
Ballerini’s most recent release is another EP, Mount Pleasant, with “I Sit In Parks,” “People Pleaser,” “Emerald City,” “587,” “The Revisionist” and “Check On Your Friends.” She described it as “a chapter of heavy self examination, longing, and stepping further into who I am as a 32 year old woman. …From the body clock crash outs, to the ‘who the f*** am I outside of who people tell me I am?,’ to the admission and ick of comparison and jealousy, to making peace with the past, to the urgency of checking on your friends and yourself into the future. Mount Pleasant is a place, a feeling, an uphill journey, and an idea of what’s to come.”