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Despite being at his professional peak, country star Morgan Wallen is currently facing major backlash. One Thing at a Time, Morgan's third studio album, ranked in first position on the Billboard 200, upon its March 3 release, and yet, the artist seems to have drawn negative reactions from netizens who have accused him of being racist.
Many pointed their fingers at an old video from 2021, in which the singer was seen using the n-word. People did not approve of the fact that an alleged racist's song was being featured for so long on top of the charts. This comes after Morgan Wallen's Last Night, a hit track from the latest album, just spent eight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.
Disclaimer: This article includes mentions of and videos containing racism and racial slurs. Readers' discretion is advised.
"I was wrong": Morgan Wallen speaks up about his actions
Claims about Morgan Wallen being racist spring from an old video that was posted on Youtube, two years ago where a neighbor recorded a drunk Morgan Wallen talking loudly to his friend.
Wallen said:
"Hey, take care of this p***y a*s motherf****r. Hey, hey (friend's name) take care of this p***y a*s n***a".
After this, the artist was suspended by his record label and dropped by his booking agent. Both radio stations SiriusXM and iHeartRadio, and streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music also pulled his songs from their catalog.
Morgan Wallen released an apology video, in which he requested his fans to not defend his actions. He said:
"I appreciate those who still see something in me and have defended me, but for today please don't. I was wrong. It's on me to take ownership for this and I fully accept any penalties I'm facing."
He stated that he and his friends were on a 72-hour bender, which in hindsight, he wasn't proud of. He said that his actions had let a lot of people down, including his parents and his son.
He also claimed to have accepted a few invitations from certain African-American organizations, leaders, and executives, to "engage in some real and honest conversation," adding:
"They offered me grace and they also paired that with an offer to learn and to grow"
He stated that he heard a few stories from African-American people that shook him and made him understand that what he was going through was nothing compared to what they have experienced in their lifetime.
Twitter users call Morgan Wallen's rise to fame "fraudulent"
Netizens did not take kindly to Billboard and chart data's official tweets on Morgan Wallen's success. In response to Billboard's tweet that talked about Wallen's chart-topping track One thing, users called him, a "racist scumbag."
In response to a couple of @chartdata's tweets about Morgan, netizens called his rise, "fraudulent" and "a pandemic." They also labeled Morgan Wallen, his fans, American listeners, and Billboard as racists.
Morgan Wallen's controversies in the past
Apart from his racist comments, Morgan recently landed in controversy when he was escorted out of Kid Rock's Big A*s Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse. The incident took place in May 2020, when the artist reportedly kicked glass items and was later arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
Later that year, in early October, he faced immense backlash for partying and kissing women in packed Alabama bars, without a mask, ignoring social distancing mandates. This led to him being axed from his SNL debut, which he eventually did later that year.
More recently, he landed in quite a bit of trouble with his own fans when he canceled his Oxford, Mississippi, concert on April 23, 2023, just minutes before he was scheduled to go up on stage. He mentioned he canceled the show as he had lost his voice. This left a bad taste in the mouths of over 60,000 disappointed fans who were already present at the Vaught–Hemingway Stadium.
A couple of days later, a concertgoer filed a class-action lawsuit against the singer for breach of contract and negligence, as per Entertainment Weekly. She said that her refund had still not arrived and people should be compensated for their transportation expenditure and merch sales.
