Diplo Plays Morgan Wallen at Packed Mid-Pandemic Super Bowl Party

DJ Diplo was the headlining act at a pre-Super Bowl LV party at the WTR Tampa Pool and Grill and [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

DJ Diplo was the headlining act at a pre-Super Bowl LV party at the WTR Tampa Pool and Grill and chose to play a song by the controversial country music star Morgan Wallen. The "Whiskey Glasses" singer has been under fire since a video of him using the N-word leaked on TMZ last week. The pre-Super Bowl party itself was controversial, as over 2,000 people reportedly attended, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Diplo played Wallen's hit "Heartless," his collaboration with the country singer, at about 1 a.m. Sunday morning reports TMZ. The song was featured on Diplo's second album, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil, and was released in 2019. The video TMZ published appears to show several people crowded together near the stage, not wearing face masks.

WTR also hosted another party Friday night, with DJ Steve Aoki as the headliner. Video from that event showed only a handful of people were wearing face masks. One video also showed Aoki pouring champagne into the crowd. The Tampa Police Department said the scenes from WTR and other clubs were "incredibly disappointing" to see.

"The city spent the better part of a year educating residents on precautions due to the pandemic and have recently put a mask order in place for both the entertainment and event zones to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors to our great City," the department said in a statement to WTSP. "When the Governor lifted the capacity restrictions and opened bars, we turned to the tight-knit hospitality community to reopen safe & sound but there's a level of personal responsibility that must be followed or risk getting shut down."

Tampa Mayor Rick Kriseman said the city would investigate a private party in a hangar at Albert Whitted Airport Friday after photos and video from the 50 Cent-hosted event were published by TMZ. "This isn't how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl," Kriseman tweeted. "It's not safe or smart. It's stupid. We're going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent."

As for Wallen, his racial slur controversy began when TMZ published a video of him using the N-word when he was walking home on Jan. 31. Wallen apologized, and his record contract was indefinitely suspended. All major radio station networks immediately stopped playing his music and the ACM Awards disqualified him. However, sales of his music have skyrocketed and his album Dangerous: The Double Album earned a fourth week at the top spot on Billboard's album chart.

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