Slur-Happy Country Star Morgan Wallen Falls Short On $500K Apology For Using N-Word
Earlier this year, Morgan Wallen saw a ripple in his reputation as one of country music’s biggest sensations after the release of a viral clip that exposed his use of the N-Word during a dispute with some now-former Black neighbors.
After publicly pledging on Good Morning America this past summer to make a $500,000 donation towards Black organizations and activism groups, it now looks like that may have simply been a PR stunt in the form of empty promises.
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The Black Music Action Coalition gave a statement to Rolling Stone, admitting that the portion of money they’ve received so far “seems exceptionally misleading” compared to the $500K that was mentioned in the GMA interview that name-dropped BMAC specifically. Rolling Stone even went as far as to contact 56 other Black-led or Black-founded charities on a state, regional and/or national scale. As expected, none reported getting any kind of monetary donation from Wallen or his team.
Here’s some background info on the moment that caused his current cancellation — or not? — via RS:
“On February 2nd, the country superstar was caught on tape saying that racial slur. In subsequent days, his label, Big Loud Records, “suspended” his contract — though the actual consequences of this action, if any, were never revealed — before lifting the suspension in May. Radio conglomerates and streaming services pulled his music from hundreds of stations and playlists. Country music network CMT removed his videos. (A source close to the situation confirms the network has not re-added his clips.) His booking agent, WME, dropped him as a client (a source close to the situation confirms that Wallen remains off their roster), and the Academy of Country Music deemed Wallen ineligible for this year’s ACM Awards. The Country Music Association also disqualified him for any individual categories at their upcoming awards, but he did earn a collaborative nomination for Album of the Year.
But in the days and weeks following the racial-slur controversy, Wallen saw his sales skyrocket. The singer’s album sales increased 1,220 percent the day after the video’s release, while his song sales were up 327 percent, according to Alpha Data, the data analytics provider that powers the Rolling Stone Charts. Dangerous: The Double Album topped the RS Album Charts for 10 weeks straight, including six weeks following the incident, and remains one of the biggest-selling albums of 2021, beating out pop stalwarts Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles. (Billboard estimated that in the nine days following the video’s surfacing, Wallen generated more than $2 million in revenue.)”
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BMAC says they received $165,000 from Wallen back in April, although they believe he’s not properly using his platform to support any kind of anti-racism endeavors. Rolling Stone found that Morgan has been doing charity concerts and shows for months now, raising $725,000 for victims of the Humphreys County flood in Tennessee just two weeks ago, but has made virtually no attempt to give that same love to the community he offended the most. It’s worth noting that Seth England, CEO of Big Loud, says they were the ones dispersing the $500K on Warren’s behalf.
Does Morgan Wallen have any obligation to do right by the Black community? Sound off and let us know your thoughts!
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