Country singer Trace Adkins has once again addressed being shot by his then-wife Julie Lauren Curtis in 1994, saying he has never believed she intended to kill him. Speaking on the podcast This Past Weekend with Theo Von, Adkins suggested Curtis, who he said had little familiarity with firearms, may not have understood what the gun would do when she fired it. The story matters as a rare, candid account from a well-known artist of surviving a near-fatal domestic shooting, and one he has notably chosen never to turn into a song.

Adkins was shot with a .38 special following an argument fuelled by his drinking, with the bullet passing straight through his heart and both lungs; doctors told him he survived only because it struck at point-blank, muzzle velocity and passed through cleanly rather than expanding. He recalled his body going numb with pressure rather than pain, and said he'd never seen Curtis handle or fire a gun before, speculating she may have believed it was a toy. While he maintains it wasn't an intentional killing, he said the incident "took it a little far" when the couple could simply have separated instead.