Music Label 'Suspends' Contract With Country Artist Morgan Wallen

UPDATE 2/3/21 1:30 PM:   Radio stations and streaming services distanced themselves from the country music star Morgan Wallen on Wednesday after video surfaced of him using a racial slur. His indie record label and management company, Big Loud, announced that it would “suspend” his contract indefinitely.

The NY Times reports a major owner of country radio stations, iHeartMedia, decided to remove Wallen’s music from its playlists immediately in response to the video, a spokeswoman said; the decision would impact more than 100 stations. Variety reported that Cumulus Media, another major owner of country music stations, had sent a directive to hundreds of its stations asking them to remove Wallen from their airwaves. The TV network CMT said it is pulling all of Wallen’s appearances from its platforms.

The uproar comes as Wallen, 27, is at a high-point of his career, and one of the most popular new country artists of the day. His latest album, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” is currently in its third consecutive week at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, and it broke the country streaming record by a wide margin, with its songs racking up 240 million streams in the first week. On Wednesday, Wallen held 17 of the Top 100 spots on Apple Music’s overall song chart, including two in its Top 10, but he was not present on the service’s flagship Today’s Country playlist. Spotify also removed Wallen’s music from its Hot Country playlist.

On Tuesday night, TMZ posted a video, seemingly filmed by a neighbor, that appeared to show Wallen returning from a night out and shouting at someone to take care of another person in his group, referring to that person with a racial slur. Representatives for Wallen and his record label did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but TMZ reported that Wallen had apologized in a statement, saying, “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.”

Earlier posting 1:00pm 2/3/21:

Country star Morgan Wallen has been "suspended indefinitely" from his label Big Loud Records after a video surfaced of him shouting a racial slur. @iHeartRadio announced it was removing his music from its radio stations' playlists.https://t.co/cejvTRmFE0

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) February 3, 2021

Original Post Wednesday morning:

The hottest star in music so far in 2021, Morgan Wallen, has suddenly gone very cold, reports Variety. His music was yanked from Cumulus Media, the second biggest radio chain in the nation, as of midnight CT after a storm broke out over his being captured on video using a racial slur.

Cumulus, which is especially powerful in the country radio sphere, sent out a directive to the program directors of all of its 400-plus stations with the header “MORGAN WALLEN — EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.” The message read: “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.”

The directive was signed by Brian Philips, EVP of programming for the chain, and John Dimick, the company’s head of programming operations. Notably, no mention was made of the ban being temporary or of waiting for more details to emerge about the incident.

Other radio stations around the country are expected to follow with an at least temporary ban on Wallen’s music, notwithstanding the fact that his “Dangerous: The Double Album” release is about to have a fourth week at the top of the charts, setting a record for consecutive weeks at No. 1 not seen by a country artist since Garth Brooks in the late ’90s.

Wallen issued a statement Tuesday night after TMZ first reported the incident, saying, “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.”

As of late Tuesday night, Wallen’s rep said there would be no other immediate comment. Reps for Republic Records, which releases his music in conjunction with Nashville’s Big Loud label, did not immediately return requests for comment.

The video, posted on TMZ Tuesday night and reportedly recorded by Wallen’s neighbors, shows him yelling profanities after a night out in Nashville, including the N-word.

Said one figure in country radio who did not want to comment for attribution: “Morgan Wallen appears in virtually every half-hour of music across 4000 stations across America right now. How’d you like to get that message at midnight, that you have to take him out of the music blocks you already set up for Wednesday? If anybody has other songs they’ve been wanting to hear in the morning, they may get to hear them tomorrow.”