Toby Keith and Dixie Chicks Not Ready to Make Nice After All

Although Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks had agreed to appear in a TV commercial together for the Alliance for Climate Protection, Toby Keith now says it looks like it won't happen, placing the blame on egos and scheduling problems.

"I agreed to do it," Keith told the San Jose Mercury News. "The two dates that I had available to go do it, they couldn't work out. Then we agreed to a third date, and they said the Chicks wasn't going to do it, so now it's gotten to where it's probably not going to happen."

The Alliance for Climate Protection, championed by former Vice President Al Gore, has inspired other unlikely pairings, including Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Republican Newt Gingrich, and the Reverend Al Sharpton appearing with the Reverend Pat Robertson. Gore's goal is to prove that climate change is not a partisan issue.

"It's hard to get people that don't get along to agree when all those egos and stuff are involved," Keith explains of the seemingly ill-fated collaboration.

Keith and Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines began trading jabs after the release of Keith's 'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,' which she characterized as making country music sound "ignorant." Keith's response was to call Maines a "lousy songwriter," and the feud was off and running. To this day, Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks have never officially met or spoken to one another.

"When somebody starts criticizing your music and starts calling you names, and you're just getting hammered, finally you respond," says Keith. "As soon as I did, everybody acted like I started the thing. But you know, I don't care. I'm not going to change my deal."