Boyz II Men member Shawn Stockman feels everyone in country music should move on past the Morgan Wallen controversy and “let the man live.”
Wallen has been under fire for months regarding a viral video that surfaced of the country music star using a racial slur, prompting him to lose out on potential gigs as well as awards. Wallen was banned from attending this year’s Country Music Association’s Awards, despite his most recent project being nominated for Album of the Year. “This is the first time in the history of the CMA, to my knowledge, anyone has ever been disqualified for conduct,” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern told the LA Times. “Honoring him as an individual this year is not right, and he will not be allowed on the red carpet, on our stage, or be celebrated in any way.”
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Stockman says, while he thinks the awards show is doing what they feel is right, society should practice more forgiveness in general. “I guess they don’t want those optics to be seen on a national stage,” he said, before clarifying that he was simply guessing and not speaking on behalf of the show’s producers.
“A lot of stuff is overblown these days. It’s a lot less forgiveness in the world. People make mistakes, man. People f–– up and people do things that they regret, that they shouldn’t –– I know I have,” he continued.”I think society should give these artists time to grow up and mature, and make mistakes. Time will tell and see if Morgan is truly sorry for what he’s done. Let the man live.”
Wallen has since apologized for using racial slurs in his past, telling Michael Strahan of Good Morning America that he wasn’t aware of the word’s history and why he shouldn’t use it amongst his friends.”We say dumb stuff together,” the singer told Strahan. “In our minds, it was just playful. That sounds ignorant, but that’s really where it came from. It was wrong.” Wallen used the word while speaking to a drunk friend (who is white). “We were all clearly drunk. I was asking his girlfriend to take care of him.” He added: “I think I was just ignorant about it. I don’t think I ever sat down and said this is right or this is wrong.” Though, the response hasn’t been enough for former fans and Country Music execs as the industry has started to take a larger stance against racism in the genre overall.
