Darius Rucker recently opened up about his friend Morgan Wallen, saying the country music star has “become a better person” since his high-profile racial slur incident.
During an appearance on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, the “Wagon Wheel” singer referenced Wallen’s 2021 controversy, saying, “I think Morgan’s become a better person since that. I’ve known Morgan a long time. Since all that happened Morgan’s tried to really better himself and become a better person.”
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While Rucker seems to have put Wallen’s mistake in the past, he feels that the country music industry, overall, has “not forgiven” the “Last Night” singer. “He’s still not out for CMAs and ACMs,” Rucker said. “They can say what they want, but the fact that Morgan Wallen is not up for Entertainer of the Year and those things is crazy. No one’s selling more tickets than Morgan.”
Wallen remained mostly out of the limelight for several months in 2021 after being caught on camera using the the N-word. In an apology statement to the NY Times, following the incident, Wallen said, “I’m embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”
Following the incident, Rucker stated that he was “shocked” to hear Wallen use the racial slur so cavalierly. “I know Morgan, and I like Morgan. It’s one of those things where you know that all over the country, there’s a lot of people who use that word just flippantly,” the Hootie & the Blowfish frontman said during an episode of the People in the ’90s podcast.
“And even if they say they don’t mean it in a derogatory way, you just don’t use it. You don’t say it,” Rucker added. “It’s shocking how prevalent it is. Racism still lives. It lives strong in some people and it’s sad. It should be getting better and it’s getting worse.”
