NASHVILLE 鈥� Country star Morgan Wallen has been suspended indefinitely from his label and seen his music pulled by radio stations and streaming services Wednesday after video surfaced of him shouting a racial slur.
Big Loud Records said in a statement that Wallen's contract has been suspended indefinitely. Republic Records, which he is co-signed to, said it agreed with Big Loud's decision and said 鈥渟uch
The video, which was first published by TMZ on Tuesday night, showed Wallen outside a home in Nashville, Tennessee, yelling profanities and a racial slur.
Wallen said in a statement to TMZ that he is embarrassed and sorry.
鈥淚 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,鈥� his statement said.
He鈥檚 one of the genre鈥檚 biggest young stars. His sophomore album, 鈥淒angerous: The Double Album,鈥� is spending its third week atop the Billboard 200 chart and it has set several streaming records, even besting the recent release from country star Luke Combs. Wallen is also one of the few country acts to score a Top 10 hit on the pop charts, thanks to the success of 鈥�7 Summers鈥� and 鈥淲asted on You.鈥�
But the fall from the top has been swift.
鈥淚n light of Morgan Wallen鈥檚 recent actions involving the use of a racial slur, we have made the decision to remove his music and content from our stations effective immediately,鈥� according to a statement from iHeartMedia, which has hundreds of radio stations across the country.
The Academy of Country Music, which is currently taking nominations for their annual awards show in April, said in a statement they would 鈥渉alt鈥� Wallen's eligibility for this year's show and will also be reviewing the awards eligibility and submission process. 鈥淭he Academy does not condone or support intolerance or
As of Wednesday morning, streaming apps like Spotify and Apple Music don't have his songs in their most popular country music playlists, where normally Wallen had multiple songs from his new album.
SiriusXM and Pandora also removed his music from their playlists, according to a spokesman for SiriusXM. The music television channel CMT said it was removing his appearances from all its platforms.
The Tennessee-born singer who has hits with songs like 鈥淲hiskey Glasses鈥� and 鈥淯p Down鈥� featuring Florida Georgia Line, has done a lot of public apologizing lately.
Wallen was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct in May 2020 after getting kicked out of a downtown Nashville bar.
In October, 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� dropped him from a scheduled performance on their show after he violated COVID-19 protocols when videos appeared on social media of him partying with fans in Alabama. He was later invited back on the show in December, where he appeared in a skit making fun of himself.
Other country stars criticized his actions publicly.
鈥淚t actually IS representative of our town because this isn鈥檛 his first 鈥榮cuffle鈥� and he just demolished a huge streaming record last month regardless,鈥� tweeted country star Maren Morris. 鈥淲e all know it wasn鈥檛 his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse.鈥�
Other music stars have faced backlash for using racial slurs or derogatory language. Justin Bieber apologized in 2014 for using a racial slur joke in a video from when he was a teenager.
In the past, country radio has sometimes ignored offensive
Marcus K. Dowling, a music journalist who has written about Wallen, said the country music industry has experienced a reckoning in the last eight months prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement that has had an effect on the industry's reaction to Wallen's words.
鈥淚 feel like it set a trip cord that never existed in country music for racial
Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press
