Country star Morgan Wallen has apologized – saying he is “embarrassed and sorry” – after a video of him yelling a racial slur has surfaced over the weekend.
TMZ was the first to publish the video showing the 27-year-old singer being dropped outside a home in Nashville, Tennessee. Then the unexpected happened next, Wallen yelled to a friend to “take care of this p****-ass n*****” – seemingly referring to another person in the group.
Wallen issued a statement Tuesday night after the incident was first reported, saying, “I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”
Morgan Wallen is one of today’s hottest country stars. His new record, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” takes the world by storm. It did not only top the Billboard Country Albums chart but also the all-genre Billboard 200 and is now on its third week. It’s the first time in eight years that a country album has pulled that trick on the Billboard 200.
In the past year, Wallen was also named New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards.
His success came despite a few slips and lapses that the star has also apologized for. If you could recall, days before he was scheduled to appear on “Saturday Night Live,” a video of him has circulated widely across the internet. In this video, the young country star was spotted partying during a trip to Alabama without a mask at a bar and a house party full of people. There was also a video of him kissing a woman who appears to be a fan.
Social media users were quick to criticize the singer, condemning him for what appeared to be a careless and arrogant attitude amid the global coronavirus pandemic. As a result, he was axed from the SNL show but was luckily given a second chance a few weeks later.
“I think I have some growing up to do,” Wallen said at that time. “I think I lost myself a little bit. I tried to find joy in the wrong places and, I don’t know, it’s left me with less joy, so I’m going to try to work on that. I’m going to take a step back from the spotlight for a little while and go work on myself.”
Unfortunately, the music industry is less forgiving this time. BBC News reported that Wallen had been removed from over 400 radio playlists in the United States.
Cumulus Media, one of America’s biggest radio networks, said a directive was sent to all of the company’s radio stations, stating, “Effective immediately we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception.”
In addition to that, Wallen’s songs appear to have been taken off Spotify’s Hot Country Songs playlist and Apple Music too.