Country music stars Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope have addressed speculation about their relationship after Pope shared a photo of them kissing on Instagram. A representative for Morris stated that the two have been "good friends for years" and that the kiss was a "cheeky kiss between friends."
Pope, 36, posted the image to her Instagram Stories with the caption, "she won't go out with you because she's out with me, silly." She also shared a photo of herself and Morris, 36, hugging at a New York restaurant on her main page.
Morris, who announced she is bisexual in June 2024, months after finalizing her divorce from songwriter Ryan Hurd, was present at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's recent wedding event in New York. The representative emphasized that Pope is in a relationship and suggested that the speculation arose due to Morris's public coming out.
Morris's announcement of her bisexuality came five months after her divorce from Hurd was finalized. The couple, both country singers, married in 2018 and share a six-year-old son, Hayes. Pope has historically only dated men and has not previously indicated a romantic interest in women. Her last known public relationship was with actor Sam Palladio, which ended in 2024 after seven years.
The friendship between Morris and Pope dates back to at least 2022, when they publicly supported each other in a dispute with Brittany Aldean, the wife of country singer Jason Aldean. The disagreement began after Aldean made comments about gender identity, which Pope criticized on social media. Morris then joined the exchange, making a critical remark about Aldean.
In 2023, Morris appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race and spoke about country music's historical treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals. She later wrote an essay for Billboard discussing the industry's past issues with LGBTQ+ artists, while also noting progress such as TJ Osborne's coming out in 2021. Osborne, a member of Brothers Osborne, was the first openly gay artist signed to a major country label.