Morgan Wallen Disinvited From Upcoming Awards Show Due to Racial Controversy

Morgan Wallen will not be participating in any capacity in the upcoming Billboard Music Awards [...]

By Victoria Moghaddami

Morgan Wallen will not be participating in any capacity in the upcoming Billboard Music Awards after using racial slurs recently. Despite his remarks, his album Dangerous: The Double Album spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums and ten weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200 after it was released in January. In a statement, Dick Clark productions announced that he will not be participating this year but that they will consider him for future events if he were to make the proper changes.

"Unique among award shows, Billboard Music Awards (BBMA) finalists are determined by performance on the Billboard Charts, and are not chosen by a voting committee or membership organization," the statement started according to Entertainment Tonight. "BBMA finalists and winners are based on key fan interactions with music (including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, social engagement), tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data. With our content reaching millions of viewers, dcp and MRC have the privilege and responsibility to effect change by creating a more inclusive dialogue in our productions and across the industry."

"Morgan Wallen is a finalist this year based on charting," the statement continued. "As his recent conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting)." The production studio noted that they will re-evaluate for the future, but for now he's not invited. "It is heartening and encouraging to hear that Morgan is taking steps in his anti-racist journey and starting to do some meaningful work. We plan to evaluate his progress and will consider his participation in future shows."

The country music singer was recently caught on camera using a racial slur and was called out by not only onlookers but those a part of the country music industry. On April 13, Wallen addressed his fans for the first time since the incident and confessed that he has been working on himself in this time of reflection. While he feels he's progressed tremendously since, he said he felt that he had more work to do and therefore would not be performing at all this summer. He still encouraged his fans to get out and enjoy live music, especially after a tumultuous 2020 that everyone had to endure, but promised he would be back sooner rather than later. After posting his hand-written letter to his fans, several flooded the comment section with praise and support for his journey.

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