Under fire again. Morgan Wallen issued an apology after saying the N-word during a night out in Nashville.
“I’m embarrassed and sorry,” the country singer, 27, said in a statement to TMZ on Tuesday, February 2. “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’s mea culpa came two days after one of his neighbors recorded him shouting the slur and other expletives outside of his home. TMZ published the video on Tuesday, showing the “7 Summers” crooner walking up his driveway and loudly telling one of his friends to “take care of this p–sy-ass n–ga.”
After the video surfaced online, the broadcasting company Cumulus Media sent a directive to the 400-plus radio stations that it owns in the U.S. to remove Wallen’s music from all playlists.
“Team, unfortunately country music star Morgan Wallen was captured on video Sunday evening using a racial slur,” Cumulus wrote in its “extremely important” message to program directors, via Variety. “Effective immediately we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception.”
Several digital streaming platforms have also seemingly taken action. As of Tuesday night, Wallen — who released a double album titled Dangerous in January — was no longer featured on Apple Music and Spotify’s country pages or playlists as he had been days earlier.
This is not the first time that the Tennessee native has received major backlash for his actions. In October 2020, Saturday Night Live cut him as a musical guest after multiple TikTok videos showed him partying without a face mask and making out with women at college bars in Alabama amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I apologize to SNL, to my fans, to my team for bringing me these opportunities, and I let them down,” he said in an Instagram video at the time. “On a personal note, I think I have some growing up to do. I think I’ve lost myself a little, but I’ve tried to find joy in the wrong places, and it’s left me with less joy. So I’m gonna go try to work on that.”
SNL gave Wallen a second chance in December when he was invited back to perform. He also appeared in a sketch that poked fun at him breaking safety guidelines during the pandemic.
Scroll down to see how Maren Morris and more country singers reacted to Wallen’s N-word video.