The pair have been married since 2018

Maren Morris has filed for divorce from Ryan Hurd after five years of marriage. Morris filed the petition in Davidson County Circuit Court in Nashville on October 2nd, citing “irreconcilable differences” after the pair separated earlier this month.

Morris and Hurd share a three-year-old son Hayes. She is requesting joint custody and that the court set child support pursuant to the state of Tennessee.

The pair signed a prenuptial agreement but amended it after they were married. Morris is asking the court to enforce the original agreement, but also requesting she be awarded her separate property.

Hurd has yet to respond to the petition.

Last month, Morris made headlines when she announced that she was pivoting from country music with her new two-song project, The Bridge, which was recorded with mega-pop producer Jack Antonoff.

Morris says she’s tried to distance herself from the genre since “people’s biases were on full display” in the years following former President Donald Trump’s leaving office, making reference to Morgan Wallen’s success following the use of the N-word and her very public feud with conservative country star Jason Aldean and his wife Brittany.

“[T]he stories going on within country music right now, I’ve tried to avoid a lot of it all costs. I feel very, very distanced from it,” she says. “I just wrote songs about real life through a lens of deep respect for my country heroes. But the further you get into the country music business, that’s when you start to see the cracks. And once you see it, you can’t un-see it. So you start doing everything you can with the little power you have to make things better.”

Hurd defended Morris at the time sharing a message on his Instagram Stories.

“Couldn’t be more proud of your bravery, eloquence, and conviction,” he wrote. “Taking a stand is hard and it’s scary, it doesn’t get easier, but you are an inspiration to so many people, including me, who hear hope in what you sing and what you say. I love you and am happy that after all this time you get the time in the sun you deserve. It’s been a long couple of years and this is the period at the end of the sentence. Never stop growing. Whenever you go, I’ll be right there with you.”

He also shared a lengthier message on his Instagram timeline in defense of her.

“She deserves to be celebrated, not just tolerated. I love the response from people who don’t just love these two songs, they needed them,” he says in response to The Bridge. “I knew it would strike a chord. Most people would just shut up and keep collecting the paycheck because the wave of vitriol is real and it’s hard. I’m so sick of watching my wife get the shit kicked out of her by the internet. I’m sick of every talking head having some kind of stupid opinion about what she says. It’s the same every time, why are you surprised when she calls out something racist or homophobic, I’m sick of people getting rewarded for it.”

In 2021, the pair released their official duet as a married couple, “Chasing After You.”