Country singer Morgan Wallen has released an apology video after a video of him using a racial slur was posted to TMZ. In the video, Wallen shares that he's met with Black leaders and organizations and he's been sober for nine days. The video comes a week after Wallen was indefinitely suspended by his record label.
"So this week, I've been waiting to say anything further until I got the chance to apologize to those closest to me that I knew I personally hurt," Wallen said. "I also accepted some invitations from some amazing Black organizations, executives, and leaders to engage in some very real and honest conversations. I'll admit to you I was pretty nervous to accept those invitations. The very people I hurt, they had every right to step on my neck while I was down ... to not show me any grace, but they did the exact opposite. They offered me grace, and they also paired that with an offer to learn and to grow. And I'll be honest, that kindness really inspired me to dig deeper now, on how to do something about this. And one thing I've learned already, I'm specifically sorry for, is that it matters, my words matter. A word can truly hurt a person and, in my core, it's not what I'm OK with."
Wallen added that he wanted people to learn from his mistakes and not downplay his actions.
"I've got many more things to learn but I already know that I don't want to add to any division. This week was a big lesson that sometimes we can do just that without even knowing it," Wallen said. "Our actions matter, our words matter. And I just want to encourage anyone watching to please learn from my mistakes. There's no reason to downplay what I did. It matters. And please know I'm carefully choosing my next step to repair."
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The singer also asked his fans to not defend him.
"I have one favor to ask. I appreciate those who still see something in me and have defended me, but for today, please don't. I was wrong. It's on me to take ownership for this. And I fully accept any penalties I'm facing," Wallen said. "The timing of my return is solely upon me and the work I put in. I still have a lot of really good people in my corner trying to help me and I appreciate them more than you know. I appreciate you more than you know. This entire situation is ugly right now, but I'll keep searching for ways to become the example instead of being made one."
Wallen stated that he's attempting to get sober.
"Since that video was taken, I've been sober for nine days," Wallen said. "It's not all that long at the time, but it's enough to know the man in that video is not the man that I'm trying to be. I've had this week to think about times when I'm sober and I'm really proud of who I am and my actions, for the most part, in those moments. When I look on the times that I'm not, it seems to be where the majority of my mistakes are made."
On Feb. 2, TMZ shared a video of Wallen using a racial slur outside his Nashville home. The same day, Wallen issued an apology in a statement to TMZ. On Feb. 3, Wallen was suspended indefinitely by his label, Big Loud Records.
iHeartMedia, and Cumulus Media pulled Wallen's music from their airwaves and CMT stated they were in the process of removing Wallen from their platforms. Wallen's music has also been removed from official Spotify and Apple Music playlists.
Wallen's latest release, Dangerous: The Double Album, has spend four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
