Nation music star Morgan Wallen reveals he checked into rehab after being caught on tape drunkenly calling his good friend the N-word as Michael Strahan confronts him saying ‘I have been known as it, it does not really feel good’
- Wallen instructed GMA’s Michael Strahan he checked into rehab after the scandal
- Wallen, 28, was filmed in February calling one among his mates the ‘N-word’
- It was exterior his house in Nashville and he was telling his good friend’s girlfriend to deal with him as a result of they had been all drunk, saying: ‘Maintain this n****r’
- Wallen mentioned he made the comment ‘ignorantly’ throughout a weekend of ‘laborious partying’
- He mentioned it is not a phrase he makes use of ‘steadily’ however did ‘playfully’ round his mates
- The video seems to have been filmed by a neighbor and was given to the press
- Wallen was suspended by his recording label and banned from music awards
- His album gross sales soared – which many mentioned confirmed that nation music was a racist trade
- He donated $500,000 to black-owned organizations after the scandal
Nation music singer Morgan Wallen revealed on Friday that he checked himself into rehab to ‘discover out if he had a consuming downside’ after being caught on tape drunkenly calling a good friend the N-word earlier this yr.
The 28-year-old singer was banned by music awards and boycotted by the trade in February after video emerged of him yelling to a good friend’s girlfriend to ‘deal with this n****r’. It is unclear if the good friend in query is black or white.
After the scandal, Wallen was banned by 1,500 radio stations, suspended by his file label, boycotted by awards reveals however his album gross sales soared.
In an interview with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan on Friday, Wallen mentioned that he made the remark ‘ignorantly’ and ‘playfully’ whereas ‘partying laborious’ with mates who had been visiting him at his house in Nashville.
‘I had some very long time mates on the town and we had been partying all weekend. We simply figured we would go laborious. I used to be round a few of my mates and we are saying dumb stuff collectively… in our minds it is playful.
‘It sounds ignorant to say however it’s actually the place it got here from… I would not say [I say it] steadily. It was simply round this sure group of mates. We had been all clearly drunk and I used to be asking his girlfriend to deal with him.’
Scroll down for video
In an interview with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan on Friday, Wallen mentioned that he made the remark ‘ignorantly’ and ‘playfully’ whereas ‘partying laborious’ with mates who had been visiting him at his house in Nashville.
Strahan requested him whether or not or not he understood correctly the background of the slur, or why it was so painful
The 28-year-old singer was banned by music awards and boycotted by the trade in February after video emerged of him yelling to a good friend’s girlfriend to ‘deal with this n****r’. It is unclear if the good friend in query is black or white
‘I wasn’t that means it in a derogatory means in any respect,’ he mentioned.
The video seems to have been filmed by a neighbor. It was given to the media in February and Wallen was banned from nation music awards and slammed by others within the trade.
Afterwards, Wallen mentioned he spent 30 days in a San Diego rehab facility.
‘I went and checked myself into rehab for 30 days. I spent a while out in San Diego simply attempting to determine if I’ve an alcohol downside or a deeper situation.’
The scandal solely boosted his profession.
His album gross sales soared afterwards which many mentioned proved racism was prevalent amongst nation music singers and followers.
Wallen mentioned he and his supervisor calculated that the scandal boosted his album gross sales by $500,000 and that he donated the cash to black organizations.
He additionally mentioned he’d had ‘significant’ conversations with such organizations to grasp the difficulty.
Strahan requested him whether or not or not he understood correctly the background of the slur, or why it was so painful.
‘It is a phrase… I have been known as it. It makes you mad, indignant – not good in any respect.
‘Do you perceive why it makes black folks so upset?’ he requested, including that it was utilized by slave homeowners and sometimes abusers earlier than beating or murdering black folks in hate crimes.
‘I do not know tips on how to put myself of their sneakers… and I do perceive it should sound like I do not perceive once I say I used it playfully and am ignorant,’ he mentioned.
Requested if he thinks there’s a racism downside within the nation music trade, he mentioned: ‘It might appear that means. I have never actually thought of that.’
After the video emerged, Wallen was suspended by his recording label and he was banned from music trade occasions however the gross sales of his album soared.
1500 radio stations dropped his music.
‘Earlier than this incident my album was already doing effectively however me and my workforce seen there was a spike in my gross sales. We tried to calculate what the variety of how a lot it spiked, from this incident, and we bought to various $500,000 and we determined to donate that to some organizations,’ he mentioned.
Wallen, within the aftermath of the scandal in February, launched an apology video and instructed his followers to not defend him.
Wallen’s label Huge Loud suspended him after the scandal however they did not cancel him. It is unclear what the standing of his contract is
Wallen’s album gross sales soared after the scandal and he’s again acting on the street