Matthew McConaughey Makes Surprise Cameo at 2023 CMT Music Awards

By Stephen Andrew

During the 2023 CMT Music Awards — held in Austin, Texas on Sunday night, — Matthew McConaughey surprised the crowd with a cameo appearance at the big event. Us Weekly reports that the actor appeared on-screen after co-host Kelsea Ballerini introduced the brand-new trophies that would be given out. "The first award is coming up," she said, "and since this is our first show in Texas, we are proud to present our brand new, custom-made, Texas CMT trophy."

The new statues look pretty similar to the previous CMT Music Awards trophies, prompting Ballerini to quip, "I know what you're thinking. That is the regular CMT trophy, but I assure you it's as Texas as it gets. Are you ready? Check it out," she said. At this point, a clip of McConaughy's iconic "Alright, alright, alright" line from Dazed and Confused (1993), and then the 53-year-old Texas native appeared on the screen, saying, "Yes, Kelsea. Thank you. I will take one of those." However, the singer was not letting just anybody have an award, replying to the Oscar-winner, "No, no, sorry, Matthew. You've gotta win them just like everyone else!"

McConaughey's CMT Awards cameo comes amid reports that Yellowstone may be ending and that Paramount is planning a new spinoff starring McConaughey. The story would reportedly continue the narrative of the hit Paramount Network series created by Taylor Sheridan. In a previous conversation with Vulture, CEO of Paramount Media Networks Chris McCarthy has addressed the claims rumbling around about "the much-discussed franchise."

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After being asked about the authenticity of the reports, McCarthy replied, "There's a bunch of different ways we could take the story. Thankfully, Taylor's mind and his creativity is endless. So, while we're not ready to commit and comment on it, as anyone who's watched the most recent season, you see Jimmy go to the Four Sixes pretty often. You also see flashbacks to when these particular Duttons are younger, with Beth being in her teenage years, and you could easily see there being a story coming into that which fits very complimentary into the present day."

McCarthy continued, "With Taylor, creativity is endless, and we're thinking through all of those different options and excited about many of them. And I will say, we love Matthew McConaughey. We've always been big fans of his." Notably, it was recently confirmed that McConaughey will in fact star in a new Yellowstone spinoff, which is said to be moving forward regardless of whether or not the flagship series comes to an end.

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