Kris Kristofferson, Toby Keith and the Outlandish “Rolling Stone” Altercation

History 58 Comments


There have been a lot of notable deaths in country music so far in 2024. But when the In Memoriam segments roll at the end of the year, they will be crowned by the gargantuan passings of country music mega star Toby Keith who died in February, and Outlaw/songwriting legend Kris Kristofferson who passed away on September 28th.

If you are to believe some of the reporting in mainstream media, and some of the most viral post on the virulent social media format X/Twitter, you would assess that Toby Keith and Kris Kristofferson sat on the polar opposite sides of the political spectrum. As the singer of “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American),” you would take Toby Keith as a bellicose, jingoistic, right-wing conservative, and Kristofferson with his Hollywood resume and bleeding heart songs to be a left-leaning activist type.

The media loves to place individuals firmly in the political binary, and then pit them against each other. It’s good for clicks and business, even if it causes collateral damage in communities or greater society in the process. Forget that the country music community—as well as friends, family, fans, and fellow artists—are mourning the loss of these two men. For some, it’s the opportunity to dredge up a previously debunked story, and use it to leverage attention for themselves.

– – – – – – – – – –

Rolling Stone published a feature-length Kris Kristofferson profile in 2009 written by actor Ethan Hawke. The article starts off by describing a scene between Kris Kristofferson and a “young country star” that Hawke chooses not to name as Toby Keith, but everyone knows is in reference to Keith by the first paragraph. The scene is Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday party in 2003.

“Up from the basement came one of country music’s brightest stars (who shall remain nameless). At that moment in time, the Star had a monster radio hit about bombing America’s enemies back into the Stone Age.

“Happy birthday,” the Star said to Willie, breezing by us. As he passed Kristofferson in one long, confident stride, out of the corner of his mouth came “None of that lefty shit out there tonight, Kris.”

“What the f-ck did you just say to me?” Kris growled, stepping forward.

“You heard me,” the Star said, walking away in the darkness.

“Don’t turn your back to me, boy,” Kristofferson shouted, not giving a s-it that basically the entire music industry seemed to be flanking him.

“You ever worn your country’s uniform?” Kris asked rhetorically.

“What?”

“Don’t ‘What?’ me, boy! You heard the question. You just don’t like the answer.” He paused just long enough to get a full chest of air. “I asked, ‘Have you ever served your country?’ The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f-ck up!” I could feel his body pulsing with anger next to me. “You don’t know what the hell you are talking about!”

“Whatever,” the young Star muttered.

Kristofferson took a deep inhale and leaned against the wall, still vibrating with adrenaline. He looked over at Willie as if to say, “Don’t say a word.” Then his eyes found me. “You know what Waylon Jennings said about guys like him?” he whispered.

I shook my head.

“They’re doin’ to country music what pantyhose did to finger-f-ckin’.”

It’s certainly a great story, and one that if you sit on the left side of the political binary, makes you want to pump your fist. But like many great stories, it’s too good to be true. Despite the story and the quotes going viral virtually any time either Toby Keith or Kris Kristofferson make the news—including in light of their passing—both Toby Keith denied it, and Kris Kristofferson denied it, and elements of the story give it away as being at the least so ludicrously embellished that it renders it wholly untrustworthy.

In the wake of Rolling Stone publishing the story in 2009, Kris Kristofferson told The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville: ”I’m deeply grateful and was profoundly moved by Ethan Hawke’s generous and respectful story about me. I have to say, though, I have no memory of talking so tough to anyone at Willie’s birthday party, least of all to Toby Keith, (if that’s who the nameless star is), for whom I have nothing but admiration and respect.”

Toby Keith was a bit more forceful in his denial. The Rolling Stone story happened to come out right around the time the ACM Awards were happening in Las Vegas. This meant that Toby Keith could be asked to speak to the allegations directly, which he did. Responding to a question by the legendary reporter for The Tennessean, Peter Cooper (RIP), Toby Keith said point blank,

Ethan Hawke reported a fictitious story about me, Kris, and Willie, 2003. You ran with it and took it to fu–kin super size french fries, and now y’all got to answer for it, I don’t. All I’ve got to do is stand here and tell my side. It’s really difficult for me to deal with you, because I’ve known you for a long time, and you’ve never sh-t in your f–kin’ nest like you did today.

I don’t know Ethan Hawke. Ethan Hawke wanted to do some kind of superficial ‘Rolling Stone’ article, and he did everything he could to make his story the greatest story ever in ‘Rolling Stone.’ And it was a fictitious f–kin’ lie. He didn’t even call me by name. You know why? Because you don’t. He called Norah Jones, Ray Charles, everybody else by name—Willie, Kris. Why didn’t he call my name? Why didn’t he say ‘Toby Keith walked through and said this sh-t?’ You know why. You know as good as anybody why.

“Because it didn’t happen?” Peter Cooper asked.

He didn’t want to deal with the f–kin’ aftermath.

Luckily, there is still video of the interaction.


Beyond the flat denials by both Kris Kristofferson and Toby Keith, there are other elements to the story that make it clearly unbelievable. First, as Toby Keith rightly points out, there is no reason to not name Toby Keith in the story unless you know it’s either incorrect or highly embellished, and it could spark a slander/defamation lawsuit if you use Keith’s name directly. This really is the ultimate tell that the story is false, or embellished excessively.

But that is just the beginning.

The linchpin of the supposed altercation was Toby Keith allegedly saying, “None of that lefty shit out there tonight, Kris.” But as has been chronicled ad nauseum since the passing of Toby Keith and before, the singer’s political leanings were always much more heterodox than the media gave him credit for, and at the time he allegedly offer this quote, he was a registered Democrat, and had voted for Democrat candidates previously.

Granted, being a Democrat and being a “lefty” are two separate things. It’s fair to characterize Keith’s politics as varied and hard to pin down. In the 2004 election (the one nearest to when the quote was allegedly issued), Keith voted for President George W. Bush. But he also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren for Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, and at the time was good friends with New Mexico Governor, Dem. Bill Richardson, who served in the Clinton Administration as Energy Secretary, and as the chair of the Democratic National Convention.

In 2007, Keith said he “never” supported the Iraq War to Newsday. In 2008, Toby Keith endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination and called him “the best Democratic candidate we’ve had since Bill Clinton.” At the same time, he also registered as an independent, and told CMT, “My party that I’ve been affiliated with all these years doesn’t stand for anything that I stand for anymore.” But this was a good five years after the quote to Kris Kristofferson was allegedly issued.

Pinning down Keith’s political affiliations is tough. But it might even be more tough to assign a political outburst to him against Kristofferson in 2003, especially since both he and Kristofferson ultimately denied it.

Another tell from the alleged altercation supposedly overheard by Ethan Hawke is when Kris Kristofferson lashes back, “Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not.”

Though Kristofferson doesn’t directly say that he has done these things and so he’s in a position to criticize Keith, this is the insinuation of the quote. As has been well-documented, Kris Kristofferson served in the military for numerous years. He was trained as an Army Ranger and a helicopter pilot. But despite Kristofferson’s glowing military accomplishments that were numerous, he never saw combat in his military career, and so never killed a man himself.

The third quote that seems fantastic, but may or may not be true comes from Waylon Jennings. Previous to the story by Ethan Hawke, there had been a rumor that Waylon Jennings once said, “Garth Brooks did for country music what pantyhose did to finger-f-ckin.”

You can read a lengthy deconstruction of this particular quote from Waylon Jennings if you wish. But long story short, it’s questionable if it’s true either. Waylon said in his biography,

The next generation better not believe everything they hear. At this point, I’ve been accused of all manner of carousing. Mostly, it’s something that I might have done, or would have done, or couldn’t even imagine doing. Pretty soon it’s etched into stone. If I led the life that people think I did, I’d be a hundred and fifty years old and weigh about forty pounds …

The thing is, we’re in this together, the old, the new, the one-hit wonders and the lifetime achievers, the writers and the session pickers and the guy who sells the T-shirts. The folks that come to the shows, and the ones that stay at home and watch it on TNN. Those who remember Hank Williams, and those who came on board about the time of Mark Chestnut, who named his baby boy after me …

My friends. This town is big enough for the all of us.

Nonetheless, the Waylon Jennings quote may be true. But the idea that Kris Kristofferson issued it to Toby Keith in this alleged heated exchange is a little to “on the nose” to be believable. It really speaks to the over-the-top embellishment that an actor (Ethan Hawke) might use as opposed to an actual journalist who would want to portray any potential incident more accurately.

There is one caveat to the complete deconstruction of Ethan Hawke’s story that as Toby Keith rightly characterizes, “tried to be the greatest story ever in ‘Rolling Stone.'” A week or so after the Rolling Stone article was published, Kris Kristofferson was playing a show in Minneapolis. A small article previewing the show appeared in the local Star Tribune newspaper. A quote from Kristofferson in the paper reads,

“There are a lot things in artistry that transcend politics.” He says he doesn’t even remember the exchange with Keith, but his wife does. “That’s something that happened six years ago,” he said, “and I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast.”

This four-word half sentence, “but his wife does,” with no context, clarification or further explanation has been forwarded by many who’ve been fact checked with Toby Keith’s and Kris Kristofferson’s own denials, claiming Kris’s wife’s recollection is the smoking gun that the incident in fact did happen. But this is flimsy at best.

It is fair to point out that in his later years, Kris Kristofferson was plagued with memory loss. It very well could be that Kris Kristofferson just didn’t recall anything from the 2003 time period in 2009 when the Rolling Stone article was published.

It’s also plausible that “something” happened in 2003 at Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday party between Kris Kristofferson and Toby Keith. But perhaps the exchange was in sarcasm. Perhaps it was in passing, and not really a big deal. It’s extremely likely that whatever may or may not have happened, it was immeasurably embellished by Ethan Hawke for dramatic purposes, and in a way that was unfair to the moment, and to Toby Keith.

Again, not naming Keith by name really is the tell-all. Because if your account is accurate, you name names. Otherwise, you show your ass, which Ethan Hawke did.

Also, we know that Kris Kristofferson was friendly with all people. If there was ever a right-wing concservative in country music, it would be John Rich. When Rich wrote the song “Shuttin’ Detroit Down,” Kris Kristofferson volunteered to be a part of the video.


Despite the insurmountable evidence that the Rolling Stone story about Toby Keith and Ethan Hawke has at least been blown out of proportion, Rolling Stone has never updated the story, never put either Kris Kristofferson’s or Toby Keith’s denials in the story for context, and continues to double down on it, reposting the story in the wake of Kris Kristofferson’s passing.

Meanwhile, pull quotes from the Rolling Stone story without context have gone megaviral on Twitter and over numerous years, to the point where Toby Keith’s name was trending with Kris Kristofferson’s upon the announcement of Kristofferson’s death, all based off of an alleged altercation that both men deny.


In the same 2007 article in Newsday where Toby Keith said he “never” supported the Iraq War, but doubled down on supporting the troops who were put in harms way to fight it, Keith said his support for the troops “has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what’s killing America.”

Even after Toby Keith’s death—and in the aftermath of Kris Kristofferson’s death—this “Politics is what’s killing America” quote from Toby Keith is the one that rings the most true. Insatiable to stir political acrimony for clicks and attention, Rolling Stone and others continue to exploit a debunked story, setting up a war of words between two titans of country music that the world is mourning the loss of.

Toby Keith and Kris Kristofferson probably saw eye to eye on politics more than they both disagreed. Both believed the Iraq War was wrong, and both supported the troops to fight it, just as the majority of Americans believe. Don’t let the media, or out-of-context quotes allow you to believe anything else.

© 2025 Saving Country Music

, , , , , ,