Country Stars and Fans React to Morgan Wallen Using N-Word

Once again, Morgan Wallen found himself in trouble for using terrible judgment, but this time it was for using a racial slur. And once again, after getting caught, the young country star apologized.

But this time, his fellow country music stars don’t seem nearly as willing to give him another chance as “Saturday Night Live” was. While the genre may be moving slower toward diversity than many others in music, that doesn’t make it ever acceptable to throw around that word.

Mickey Guyton was among the first to blast the chart-topping Wallen, She quickly responded to TMZ’s tweet sharing their story — the outlet posted the video of Wallen using the slur and received his subsequent apology.

“The hate runs deep smh,” wrote Guyton. Then, replying to her own tweet, she continued, “This is not his first time using that ‘unacceptable’ racial slur and we all known that.”

Then, seemingly calling on the country music industry itself, Guyton continued, “So what exactly are y’all going to do about it? Crickets won’t work this time.”

Maren Morris agreed that there is no way this was Wallen’s first time using the slur, and seemingly shot down arguments that his behavior is not an accurate representation of the Nashville culture.

Kelsea Ballerini tweeted that sentiment, writing, “The news out of Nashville does not represent country music.” Fans were quick to correct her, saying that it absolutely does.

“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,” Morris said, noting that his prior behaviors have not impacted his sales success at all.

“We all know it wasn’t his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse.”

Just two days ago, Billboard noted that Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” had just enjoyed its third straight week atop the Billboard 200, making it the first country album to do so in eight years.

Songwriter Bonnie J. Baker replied to Ballerini’s tweet to say, “If a female artist did 5 percent of the shit he has pulled she would be dropped immediately by everyone,” a point Ballerine quickly agreed with.

That, Morris could agree with, retweeting Ballerini’s with the addendum, “Yup. We’d be dropped, endorsements lost, social pariahs to music row…”

As reported by TMZ, Wallen was filmed coming home Sunday night after an apparent night of partying pretty hard. While on his way to his own house, he shouted back to his friends to “take care of” one of their friends.

“Take care of this p—- motherf—–” he was heard saying at one point, shortly followed by, “Take care of this p—- ass n—–.” The outlet reports he made an appearance that night at Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge for an impromptu performance.

In response to the video, Wallen told TMZ, “I’m embarrassed and sorry. 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.”

Wallen has had a rocky road to super-stardom, recently getting ejected from a bar for rowdy behavior and even booted from an “SNL” appearance earlier in the season for partying unchecked and without masks amid Covid, despite the show’s strict safety protocols. He was subsequently invited back later.

Others from across country music, both professionals and fans, agreed with Guyton and Morris’s sentiments, with many saying there is no place in country music for anyone who displays this type of behavior.

There are, however, plenty of fans on social media who were quick to defend Wallen, with those takes being received about as well as you might expect. You can see some of the reactions below: