Chase Stokes’ new cryptic social media messages have fans thinking his relationship with Kelsea Ballerini is over again.
“Don’t believe the media,” Stokes, 33, wrote via his Instagram Story on Thursday, November 20, raising eyebrows among his followers. “I’m blocked, I did nothing wrong.”
The Outer Banks star added, “Sorry” with a red heart emoji. “I tried.”
Stokes continued to fuel speculation that his remarks are related to his and Ballerini’s relationship with a second cryptic upload on Thursday.
“I’m sorry for those who believed in us,” he continued. “It is what it is. Onwards and upwards.”
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Stokes no longer “follows” Ballerini, 32, on Instagram. The “Peter Pan” singer doesn’t have Stokes on her Instagram “following” list either after they both previously followed each other.
Stokes’ seemingly pointed messages come hours after Ballerini attended the 2025 CMA Awards in Nashville solo following a European reunion with the actor last month.
Ballerini walked the red carpet in what some fans speculated was a revenge dress, hinting at her relationship status. The musician slayed the CMAs with a performance of her new single, “I Sit in Parks,” wearing another red-hot gown.
Ballerini’s solo night out sparked some concern about her and Stokes’ relationship as the pair were often spotted together on the awards show circuit while dating.
Stokes and Ballerini began dating in January 2023 after the “Cowboys Cry Too” singer finalized her divorce from Morgan Evans in November 2022.
Days after Stokes wished Ballerini a happy birthday in September, Us Weekly confirmed they called it quits after two years of dating.
“It was a hard split,” a source exclusively told Us at the time. “They had been arguing a lot recently, and their communication wasn’t great in the last month. They were both traveling so much and trying to juggle everything, and the arguments piled up.”
The insider revealed that Ballerini “initiated the conversation,” but she and Stokes acted like “mature adults and had the same understanding that they needed space.”
“There is still a lot of love between them,” the source said, adding that Ballerini and Stokes are both “extremely busy right now.”
The pair’s breakup was short-lived, as Stokes and Ballerini were spotted together near Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle on October 13.
“They both seemed really happy and smiley,” eyewitness Gemma Kennedy exclusively told Us, noting she spoke with Stokes about his holiday in Scotland, which he was taking before heading to Croatia to film Outer Banks.
Kennedy noted that Stokes and Ballerini “were very much loved-up and holding hands at the bar” when she saw them.
Following their European reunion — which included a joint sighting in Croatia earlier this month — Us confirmed that Stokes and Ballerini were “giving their relationship another try.”
“There’s still a lot of love there, so they fell back into it very naturally,” a source told Us on November 10, adding that the duo “never really stopped being in touch after their brief split.”
According to the insider, “Kelsea wanted to give it another chance and missed Chase a lot,” while Stokes “never wanted to break up.”
“[He] always felt there was something between them and believed they just needed time to cool off and figure things out,” the source explained.
In order to reconnect, the insider told Us that Stokes and Ballerini had “worked through some of their ‘issues’” and were “hopeful this time around will be better.”
During their time apart, Ballerini started promoting her latest EP, Mount Pleasant. When she posted a TikTok with a snippet from her song “People Pleaser,” Stokes was quick to call out haters online.
“What does it mean? Keeps getting sadder / Was it sixteen that made me not matter?” Ballerini sang in the video as she changed from a casual outfit into a red dress. “Was it Logan or Robby? Cheer captain named Carly / That made the cut deeper and messed up my body? I’ll keep being sweeter, but at my demise / Call me people pleaser and damn if they’re right.”
Stokes responded to upload via TikTok on Monday, November 17, writing, “These comments are f***ing weird. Grow up.”
While it’s unclear what comments Stokes was referring to, one user claimed, “OBX fans were posting nonsense and Chase called them out so they deleted it.”
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