Morgan Wallen Denounced by Country Music Scene at Large After N-Word
Breaking News
7:45 AM PT — Country star Mickey Guyton — one of a small handful of well-known Black singers in the genre — just spoke her piece about Morgan’s situation … and she gives some poignant insight, including an olive branch for Morgan himself.
She writes, “When I read comments saying ‘this is not who we are’ I laugh because this is exactly who country music is. I’ve witnessed it for 10 gd years. You guys should just read some of the vile comments hurled at me on a daily basis. It’s a cold hard truth to face but it is the truth.”
Mickey goes on to say that she’s often questioned why she fights to stay in an industry that has shown it hates her at times because of the color of her skin, but goes on to explain that she does so because of the proverbial bright-eyed artist … who aspires to contribute to what Mickey characterizes as a beautiful style of music, and for whom she wants to fight.
She also wrote in a huge list of country stars she’s aware of who she says are actually great people and ambassadors of the genre — including Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, Kree Harrison, Chris Young, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban and many, many more. Mickey finished her thoughts with a rebuke of “cancel culture” too.
MG says people need to be given a chance to change, including Morgan — and hopes he sees the error in his ways … adding that tossing someone out permanently isn’t a solution.
Morgan Wallen is feeling an immediate backlash after using the n-word — music platforms are dropping him left and right, and fellow country artists are also condemning his behavior.
The singer’s music was reportedly banned from Cumulus Media overnight, which is one of the biggest radio chains for country music across the nation. A directive from the station’s brass told all their affiliates to scrub anything Morgan for Wednesday’s slate of programming.
The memo, obtained by Variety, reads … “MORGAN WALLEN — EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Team, unfortunately country music star Morgan Wallen was captured on video Sunday evening using a racial slur. Effective immediately we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception. More to follow.”
Many of his own peers are decrying his use of the racial slur too — but there seem to be differences of opinion on whether this is an isolated incident or a bigger problem that’s just coming to light now.
For example, country star Kelsea Ballerini wrote … “The news out of Nashville tonight does not represent country music,” to which Maren Morris responded … “It actually IS representative of our town because this isn’t his first “scuffle” and he just demolished a huge streaming record last month regardless. We all know it wasn’t his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse.”
TMZ.com
Despite that, nobody appears to be watering down Morgan dropping the slur … or excusing it. So, there’s a united front there.
TMZ broke the story … Morgan was filmed by a neighbor Sunday night getting rowdy with his friends, and then dropping the n-word as he made his way inside, seemingly telling a buddy to rough somebody up.
He issued an apology, saying there were no excuses for his behavior … and promising to do better. It might be too little too late though — which is a shame for him, because MW was the king of country this past month … breaking streaming records, and getting tons of love.
Originally Published — 6:39 AM PT