Country musician Morgan Wallen once again found himself in trouble for his behavior, but this time the consequences seem to be serious.
Wallen was scheduled to perform on SNL in October, but video surfaced of him maskless and making out with multiple people at a bar. The show initially canceled his appearance amid public outcry, but a few weeks later all was forgotten and he was gracing the SNL stage.
This past weekend, Wallen was again out partying. When he and his friends returned to Wallen's home, the group was loud enough to wake the neighbors.
Video recorded by one of those neighbors shows the group honking car horns, parked in the middle of the street, hanging out by their vehicles and talking and laughing loudly on an otherwise dark and quiet street.
That same video also shows Morgan Wallen casually dropping the n-word when referring to a member of the group.
Wallen wasn't hurling insults or even angry when he used the n-word. Instead, he was instructing others in the group to care for the person.
As Morgan Wallen walked up to the door of the house, he called behind him to the group:
"Take care of this pussy-a** motherf*cker. Take care of this pussy-a** n*gga"
Wallen may not have been flinging insults, but using a negative word in a positive light, called "reclaiming," is not for anyone other than the group who is oppressed by that word. His comfort using the word so casually indicated to many that this was not a rare occurrence.
The public felt Wallen, regardless of his intention, had absolutely no right or reason to use the n-word. The video was widely shared and shamed.
Morgan Wallen did issue an apology.
"I'm embarrassed and sorry. 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."
Unlike the incident before his SNL performance, an apology has not seemed to suffice this time. Wallen's record company tweeted notice his contract was suspended.
Indefinitely.
Wallen's music was also removed from many major platforms beginning Feb 4.
Apps like Spotify and Apple Music removed his work from cultivated playlists.
Corporate consequences are not the only ones Wallen is dealing with.
The public backlash has been more severe this time as well.
The conversation keeps circling back to Wallen's pattern of abhorrent behavior.
Predictably, plenty of non-Black people hopped into the comments to criticize the backlash and make false-equivalence style comparisons between Wallen and Black artists who use the word.
They got shut down pretty quickly.
Wallen's music is still available on music platforms if you search for it—which many of his fans are doing in a bid to support him and force the record company and platform execs to reconsider holding Wallen accountable for his casual racism and continued dangerous behavior.
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