Morgan Wallen Denounced After N-Word, Radio/Label/Sirius & CMT Shelve Him
Morgan Wallen Denounced After Hurling Racial Slur Radio, Sirius, Label, CMT Shelve Him
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12:06 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Emmis Communications tells TMZ ... it's yanking Morgan's music from its only country-programmed radio station, Hank FM, in Indianapolis.
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A spokesperson for Cox Media Group also tells us effective immediately his music and content will be removed from its country-brand station playlists.
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10:49 AM PT -- A spokesperson for SiriusXM tells TMZ ... the satellite radio company has pulled Morgan's content from SiriusXM as well as the streaming service Pandora, which Sirius owns.
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9:39 AM PT -- The hits just keep on coming for Morgan -- now, his own record label has put him on the shelf ... saying his contract with them is on a freeze, for now.
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Big Loud -- an independent label based in Nashville -- says "In the wake of recent events, Big Loud Records has made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s contract indefinitely." They go on to say Republic Records -- which distributes his music -- is fully onboard too, adding ... "such behavior will not be tolerated."
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It's unclear what an indefinitely suspended contract means big picture -- but it sounds like they're stopping short of dropping Morgan from their roster, and just putting any music biz of his on pause for a time.
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CMT -- Country Music Television -- is also pulling the plug on him, saying they're removing any appearances or performances of Morgan's on their platform ... as they don't tolerate that type of language which contradicts their core values.
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9:01 AM PT -- You can now add iHeartRadio -- the nation's largest radio chain -- to the list of platforms yanking Morgan's music. iHeart announced Wednesday it's pulling the plug on airing the disgraced country star's music in wake of his using a racial slur.
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A spokesperson for the company, which has nearly 1,000 radio stations in the U.S., said, "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."
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7:45 AM PT -- Country star Mickey Guyton -- one of a small handful of well-known Black singers in the genre -- just spoke her piece about Morgan's situation ... and she gives some poignant insight, including an olive branch for Morgan himself.
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She writes, "When I read comments saying 'this is not who we are' I laugh because this is exactly who country music is. I’ve witnessed it for 10 gd years. You guys should just read some of the vile comments hurled at me on a daily basis. It’s a cold hard truth to face but it is the truth."
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Mickey goes on to say that she's often questioned why she fights to stay in an industry that has shown it hates her at times because of the color of her skin, but goes on to explain that she does so because of the proverbial bright-eyed artist ... who aspires to contribute to what Mickey characterizes as a beautiful style of music, and for whom she wants to fight.
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She also wrote in a huge list of country stars she's aware of who she says are actually great people and ambassadors of the genre -- including Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, Kree Harrison, Chris Young, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban and many, many more. Mickey finished her thoughts with a rebuke of "cancel culture" too.
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MG says people need to be given a chance to change, including Morgan -- and hopes he sees the error in his ways ... adding that tossing someone out permanently isn't a solution.
Morgan Wallen is feeling an immediate backlash after using the n-word -- music platforms are dropping him left and right, and fellow country artists are also condemning his behavior.
The singer's music was reportedly banned from Cumulus Media overnight, which is one of the biggest radio chains for country music across the nation. A directive from the station's brass told all their affiliates to scrub anything Morgan for Wednesday's slate of programming.
The memo, obtained by Variety, reads ... "MORGAN WALLEN — EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Team, unfortunately country music star Morgan Wallen was captured on video Sunday evening using a racial slur. Effective immediately we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception. More to follow."
Many of his own peers are decrying his use of the racial slur too -- but there seem to be differences of opinion on whether this is an isolated incident or a bigger problem that's just coming to light now.
For example, country star Kelsea Ballerini wrote ... "The news out of Nashville tonight does not represent country music," to which Maren Morris responded ... "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. We all know it wasn’t his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse."
JANUARY 2021
Despite that, nobody appears to be watering down Morgan dropping the slur ... or excusing it. So, there's a united front there.
TMZ broke the story ... Morgan was filmed by a neighbor Sunday night getting rowdy with his friends, and then dropping the n-word as he made his way inside, seemingly telling a buddy to rough somebody up.
He issued an apology, saying there were no excuses for his behavior ... and promising to do better. It might be too little too late though -- which is a shame for him, because MW was the king of country this past month ... breaking streaming records, and getting tons of love.
Originally Published -- 6:39 AM PT
