While 2021 started as what appeared would be a very strong year for Morgan Wallen, it all came crashing down when a video of the singer using a racial slur was widely shared online. TMZ published the video, and it caught him referring to his friend as a p*ssy as n*****.
In the following 24 hours after news about the incident was shared, Wallen had his record label contract suspended and he was denounced by Maren Morries, Jason Ibell, and other country stars. Now, more than a week later, the singer is trying to clean up the mess he made by starting with a new apology video.
Country singer Morgan Wallen releases apology video after using racist slur:
“Since that video was taken, I’ve been sober for nine days. It’s not all that long of time, but it’s enough to know the man in that video is not the man that I’m trying to be.” pic.twitter.com/e2zuVJz4qy
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 11, 2021
Wallen tried to explain his actions and apologized for them in an Instagram video that lasted for more than five minutes. “The video you saw was me on hour 72 of 72 of a bender, and that’s not something I’m proud of either,” he said at one point in the video before explaining why he waited so long to apologize publicly.
“This week, I’ve been waiting to say anything further until I got to apologize to those closest to me that I know I personally hurt,” Wallen added. He also acknowledged the severity of his actions while revealing some of the work he’s done in the past week to turn things around. This includes speaking with members of the Black community and embarking on a new period of sobriety.
“Since that video was taken, I’ve been sober for nine days,” Wallen said. “It’s not all that long of time, but it’s enough to know the man in that video is not the man that I’m trying to be.”
You can watch the singer’s full apology video above.