She's Nashville's most hated wife, but there are worse women in country music than Briley King. The real-life 'Jolene' takes the crown: GAGE KLIPPER

Briley King the 'most hated woman in Nashville'?

Maybe.

The most hated woman in all of country music?

Hardly.

People are often surprised to hear that being born and raised in rural upstate New York, just a little over an hour from Manhattan, country music is in my blood.

Hank Williams. Loretta Lynn. Merle Haggard.

Coming from small town America and raised on traditional values, I and my neighbors have always found country the most relatable to our lives.

Rock has always been subversive. Modern pop is wildly over-sexed. Rap exists to provoke. Country, though, is historically about faith, family, country and the pride in a hard day's work.

'We say grace, and we say ma'am / If you ain't into that, we don't give a damn,' as Hank famously wrote in A Country Boy Can Survive.

That's why I don't find myself getting too upset over the Daily Mail's recent reporting that trophy-wife-turned-artist, Briley King, has been accused of using her husband, Grammy-nominated country singer Marcus King, to advance her own career.

Despite claiming to have no interest in anything but doting on her husband, Briley confidently announced in September that she was 'hard launching,' pursuing her calling to be a bona fide country music star herself.

Just one week later, she performed solo at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, the most famous stage in the industry, a venue that other aspiring artists spend years chasing. 

The Opry is more than a theatre. It's a symbol. It put Nashville on the map as Music City, USA, playing early, iconic performances of legends from 13-year-old Dolly Parton to Elvis Presley. What started as a simple barn dance radio show in 1925, now hosts the longest running music program in America. But, under the weight of corporate management, the decisions of who performs there are political and, predictably, Nashville insiders find this – and Briley – annoying.

'It's interesting, but not surprising, how quickly Nashville and country music will usher in a famous artist's wife onto the Opry stage but will close those same doors to artists that actually deserve to be in those spaces,' a Nashville industry executive told the Daily Mail.

Does King deserve, on the merits of her talent, to play at a venue like the Opry? Probably not. But nepotism isn't the worst thing, as far as country values go.

I grant that King may be exactly the kind of fame-chasing 'nepo wife' her haters accuse her of being. Plucked from obscurity by her hubby, King quit her day job, launched a silly line of trucker hats and with her sassy antics – and even sassier outfits – seemingly made social media a full-time job.

But I'm happy to give a country girl the benefit of the doubt that she does actually love her husband. And Marcus is right to help her chase her dreams.

Country values require taking care of yourself, your family and your community, in that order. In allowing Briley to build her own career off his back, Marcus is just being a good, supportive husband – exactly what generations of country singers have called for.

And besides, she's no worse than any other pop-ified country star that's already upended the industry. Looking at you, Addison Rae.

The real affront to country values doesn't come from nepotism, but from alleged infidelity. If there is a most hated wife among real country fans, it's not Briley.

It's Brittany Kerr.

Country singer Jason Aldean and Kerr may now be happily married, but many still bristle at how they started. Aldean was already married with two young children in 2012 when he was photographed kissing Kerr outside a Los Angeles nightclub.

The star apologized at the time, but filed for divorce three months later. 'I wasn't really happy,' he later said of his first marriage.

Too bad. Country values require decentralizing your own fleeting happiness and working on your marriage; keep the indulgent therapy-speak on the Upper East Side.

Similarly, Kerr took the brunt of the blame in a way unthinkable in today's feminist age. At the time, her Twitter feed was flooded with slurs. While we can admit she was treated poorly, that still doesn't absolve her from pursuing a married man. Jolene, perhaps the most famous country song in history, warns of a woman like Kerr.

Fans never quite got over it. 'It has been two years of this s***,' Aldean said of the haters once the couple became engaged in 2014.

Even a more recent foray into conservative commentary wasn't enough to rehab Kerr with a fanbase that leans heavily Republican.

'I'd really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life,' Kerr posted in 2022, wading into the transgender debate.

Under the post, Aldean commented: 'Lmao [laughing my a** off]!! I'm glad they didn't too, cause you and I wouldn't have worked out.'

In over a decade married to a far bigger star than Marcus King, Kerr, an aspiring singer herself, who competed on season 11 of American Idol, has still never been able to advance her own career to the extent that Briley has in just a couple of weeks.

In all fairness, are either of these women villains?

Of course, not. No one knows what's going on in their private lives. Nashville insiders may have it out for Briley, but real country music fans know there's only one Jolene.