Racial slur costs chart-topping country music star Morgan Wallen spot on radio stations

One of the biggest names in country music will not have his songs played on major chains of radio stations and streaming platforms after he was heard saying a racial slur.

Morgan Wallen, whose “Dangerous” album has remained on top of the Billboard chart for the three straight weeks, said in a statement he is “embarrassed and sorry” for using the racial slur. A clip shared by TMZ Tuesday shows him calling one of his friends the N-word.

“I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back,” he said in a statement to The Tennessean. “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.”

But his language has pushed Cumulus Media, which controls more than 400 radio stations in the United States, to remove Wallen’s music from their rotation, Variety reported.

Cumulus Media’s executive vice president of programming sent an email to their program directors regarding them of the directive.

“Team, unfortunately country music star Morgan Wallen was captured on video Sunday evening using a racial slur,” the email read, according to BBC. “Effective immediately we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception.”

iHeartRadio also made the decision Wednesday to pull Wallen’s music from its stations, Billboard reported.

“In light of Morgan Wallen’s recent actions involving the use of a racial slur, we have made the decision to remove his music and content from our stations effective immediately,” an iHeartRadio spokesperson told Billboard.

SiriusXM and Pandora later made the decision to remove Wallen’s content from their services, Variety reported.

His songs were also removed from Apple Music’s Today’s Country playlist, as well as Spotify’s Hot Country Songs playlist, BBC reported.

Wednesday afternoon, Big Loud Records announced it is suspending Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely. Republic Records, which Wallen is co-signed to, said it agreed with Big Loud’s decision.

CMT said Wednesday it is “in the process of removing his appearances from all our platforms.”

“We do not tolerate or condone words and actions that are in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity & inclusion,” CMT stated.

The language Wallen used led the Academy of Country Music to end his potential involvement and eligibility for this year’s award show. This year’s award show is scheduled for April 18.

Wallen, named the New Artist of the Year at last year’s CMA Awards, has not been immune to public backlash since entering the spotlight. In October, he was booted from performing on “Saturday Night Live” after videos showed him partying in Alabama without a mask on, McClatchy News reported.

He apologized for putting the “SNL” cast in jeopardy. He ended up making his debut appearance on the show in December.

In May, Wallen was charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after he was kicked out of Kid Rock’s Nashville bar, according to The Tennessean.

Mickey Guyton, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini are among the country musicians who have criticized Wallen’s most recent actions

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

Wallen’s newest album has broken many records, including most streams for a country album in a week and Spotify’s all-time first-day stream record, according to Rolling Stone.

This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Racial slur costs chart-topping country music star Morgan Wallen spot on radio stations."