Should We Cancel Morgan Wallen?
How his controversies have fueled his fame in the music industry.
Morgan Wallen is the love of my life.
Well maybe not the man himself, but his music grabs my heart like nothing else.
I went to his “One Night at a Time World Tour” in May of 2024, and the day of the concert I remember constantly refreshing social media in fear that it would be canceled. Just hours before opening, Morgan Wallen had a mandatory court appearance. Why? He was caught throwing a chair off of a rooftop bar in Nashville.
The “bad boy of country music” is known for his scandals. The world has seen him throw a chair off a building, cancel shows due to intoxication, and use a racial slur.
So why does he still dominate the music industry?
Scandals
First, let’s look at Wallen’s record (it’s quite the lineup)
- May 2020: arrested after being thrown out of Kid Rock’s steakhouse
- October 2020: cut from SNL after breaking Covid rules
- January 2021: released “Dangerous: The Double Album”
- February 2021: filmed using a racial slur
- Jan 2022: performed at the Grand Ole Opry
- March 2023: released “One Thing at a Time” album
- April 2024: arrested on felony charges after throwing a chair off a rooftop bar
- May 2024: attended Court for felony charges (while on world tour)
- December 2024: plead guilty to 2 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment
- January 2025: announced upcoming “I’m the Problem Tour”
But despite this, his career continues to flourish.
The Slur That Should Have Ended It All
In February 2021, Wallen was videoed using a racial slur. The backlash was immediate: radio stations pulled his music, his record label temporarily suspended him, and he cancelled his “Dangerous” tour. He took a brief pause from the public eye and released an apology video, but his attempt to address the situation on Good Morning America felt unprepared and ignorant. He claimed he was just being “playful” with his friends and saying “dumb stuff.”
Almost a year later, Wallen performed at the Grand Ole Opry alongside Ernest, and the fallout was swift. Black country performers shamed the Opry for giving Wallen a platform after being caught saying a racial epithet.
“Dangerous” Comeback
Ironically, the controversy seemed to fuel his fame. “Dangerous” streaming numbers soared, the album spent multiple weeks at number 1, and Wallen won the Forbes title of most popular musician. “Dangerous” finished 2021 as the year’s top performing album.
Get Helen Harrington’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Fans heard Wallen on the radio again, he was invited back to award shows, and the nominations were rolling in. As it seems,
Getting “canceled” may have been the best thing that could’ve happened to his career.
At The Top: “One Thing at a Time”
In the time post apology video, Morgan never fully took accountability but also didn’t cause more problems, so when he released “One Thing at a Time,” fans (like myself) were ecstatic. All 36 tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 at once, and it even robbed Metallica of their 32-year streak of sitting at number 1.
3 out of the 5 songs on my 2023 Spotify wrapped were from this album.
Show Cancellations
When Wallen went on tour, I remember my brother had plans to go to his show in Oxford, Mississippi. My family is from Tennessee, so his friends and he drove down to Mississippi and got settled in at the venue only to find that Morgan was cancelling the show minutes before he was supposed to open due to “losing his voice.”
Footage circled of a security guard saying Morgan was actually just too drunk to perform.
Lets just say that my brother, along with thousands of other fans, were not happy campers that weekend.
But alas, the tour continued to be extremely successful, ranking as the highest-grossing country music tour in history, selling out shows across continents, and breaking records at multiple venues.
Chair Incident
In April 2024, Morgan was arrested on 3 felony counts for throwing a chair off of a rooftop bar, nearly hitting police officers who were on the street below.
Cancelled?
Despite having to attend court just hours before one of his three Nashville shows, the star was able to attend his own concert and the music, the production, the crowd engagement: I would say it was a highlight of my life.
So how is Morgan Wallen able to not only overcomes these controversies but also come out stronger in the end?
How is he able to say racist comments, constantly over indulge, and throw a chair off of a roof and still sell out stadiums, top charts, and win CMA awards?
I’ll openly admit that Morgan Wallen is the love of my life, but mostly because I love his music — the beat, the country twang, the serotonin it brings me — his music just makes me happy. I think other fans recognize this too because if you cancel the artist, you cancel the music, but music provides so much for us.
Why Wallen Stays At The Top
I have some guesses as to why certain artists, like Morgan, are able to evade cancel culture — the first being marketing. Morgan Wallen has been marketed as the “bad boy of country music.” His reputation sets the expectation that he will mess up, making his scandals less shocking to the public.
Simultaneously, country music fans (and his fans in particular) are incredibly loyal. They are very forgiving of his mistakes because if they let Wallen get cancelled, the music dies with him.
Hate him or love him, you have to admit Wallen knows what he’s doing when it comes to music. His undeniable talent encourages fans to listen to songs on repeat and makes it impossible for them to let go.
Finally, every controversy just pushes his name into the headlines of the media causing people to look him up and stream his music out of curiosity. This media attention just furthers his popularity.
The controversy surrounding Wallen likely contributed to increased attention and discussion around his music … thus demonstrating the public’s complex relationship with celebrity culture and forgiveness.
Second Chances
I hate cancel culture because I believe in second chances — or in Wallen’s case, multiple second chances. People should be able to make mistakes and come back from them as long as they take accountability and try to improve. For this reason, I don’t think we should write off Morgan Wallen — just yet.
But what do you think? Is it sustainable to keep forgiving someone?
Or should we cancel Morgan Wallen?
