Who's the real bad guy -- Toby Keith or Ethan Hawke? Tables are certainly turning this week.

Keith and Kris Kristofferson are both speaking out about Hawke's recent article in Rolling Stone magazine, detailing an alleged encounter between the two country stars at Willie Nelson's 2003 birthday bash. The actor claims that he witnessed a heated exchange, during which an unnamed artist (whom he strongly hints was Keith) warned Kristofferson not to perform any "lefty" music. Hawke claims the country legend bit back, asking the other musician, "You ever worn your country's uniform?"

The artist, according to Hawke, responded with a bewildered "What?," to which Kristofferson replied, "You heard the question! You just don't like the answer. I asked, 'Have you ever served your country?' The answer is, 'No, you have not ... You don't know what the (blankety blank) you are talking about!'"


So did that conversation really happen? Both Keith and Kristofferson say no.

"I'm deeply grateful and was profoundly moved by Ethan Hawke's generous and respectful story about me," Kristofferson writes in a letter sent to both Rolling Stone and Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. "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."

Keith, who was never mentioned directly in the article but was strongly eluded to, was a lot less forgiving. "Kris and I are good friends," he tells CMT. "I don't have to defend myself on this. This is 100 percent fiction. I'd bet a million dollars on a lie detector test that this didn't happen ... So whoever he's talking about that he left nameless, there was a reason he left them nameless. He [Hawke] was insinuating me, which means he left it nameless because he doesn't want to deal with that."

Keith continued with some pretty harsh words for his accuser: "I don't care who he is. I don't know who he is. But you don't want to be sitting in a restaurant and have somebody come up and ask you a bunch of questions, and you can always say, 'I didn't say it was you.' When I call somebody out, I say their name," the country star continued. "So, you can talk to Kris and you can talk to Willie ... They'll all laugh and say it didn't happen. Somebody's trying to get fiction in whatever magazine to make themselves a story ... For somebody to use their star power to get in and then create some s--- like this is just unfortunate for everybody. But, you know what? When you climb the flagpole the highest, the more people can see your butt."

Keith's fury over the situation does not stop there. He also had a bone to pick with a Tennessean reporter who printed quotes from the Rolling Stone story. The two faced off in person, backstage at the ACM Awards Sunday night. Read a recap of Keith's heated tongue lashing here.

Watch Toby Keith's response backstage at the ACM's