Wallen used a racial slur that was captured on video
Big Loud Records and Republic Records have suspended Morgan Wallen’s record contract indefinitely for hurling a racial slur. The labels shared the news on Wednesday (Feb 3rd), following video footage of using the “N” word and other profanities as he arrived home Sunday night (Jan 31st) after partying with friends.
“In the wake of recent events, Big Loud Records has made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely,” the organizers share. “Republic Records fully supports Big Loud’s decision and agrees such behavior will not be tolerated.”
https://www.facebook.com/BigLoud/posts/5649469175070641
It is important to note that this is only a suspension and Wallen has not been officially dropped from the labels. It’s not clear what this means as of press time, but his likeness has been removed from Big Loud’s website.
Late Tuesday (Feb 2nd) night, Cumulus Media pulled Wallen’s music from their stations. EVP of programming Brian Philips and head of programming operations John Dimick sent a memo to all program directors for its 400 station cluster with the subject, “MORGAN WALLEN — EXTREMELY IMPORTANT,” saying “Effective immediately we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception. More to follow.”
More stations have followed including iHeartRadio, SiriusXM/Pandora, Apple, Spotify and others. The CMA is also removing him from their digital platforms and will “review additional measures and will continue to examine our industry’s inclusively efforts.” The ACM says they are deeming him ineligible for any awards for the upcoming 56th annual award show.
CMT has also made the decision to remove his music from their platforms.
“After learning of Morgan Wallen’s racial slur late last night, we are in the process of removing his appearances from all our platforms,” the network shares. “We do not tolerate or condone words and actions that are in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The backlash comes as Wallen looks to capture the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 Album chart for the fourth consecutive week with his record-shattering Dangerous: The Double Album.
