Morgan Wallen’s Recording Contract Suspended After Using N-Word

Country singer Morgan Wallen is facing the consequences after he was spotted on video using the N-word. According to Entertainment Tonight, Wallen’s contract with his record label has been suspended “indefinitely” amidst the controversy. On Tuesday evening, it was reported that Wallen used the N-word after coming back to his home in Nashville on Sunday night. He later issued an apology for his statements.

Big Loud Records, which releases Wallen’s music alongside Republic Records, issued a statement in which they said that they are cutting ties with the musician in light of this situation. Their statement read, “In wake of recent events, Big Loud Records has decided to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely. Republic Records fully supports Big Loud’s decision and agrees such behavior will not be tolerated.” Not only has Wallen been suspended indefinitely from his record label, but his music has also been pulled off of radio stations as a result of his actions.

“In light of Morgan Wallen’s recent actions involving the use of a racial slur, we have made the decision to remove his music and content from our stations effective immediately,” iHeart Radio, which has more than 850 radio stations, told ET. A spokesperson for Entercom, which has more than 235 radio stations, also told ET, “In light of Morgan Wallen’s recent use of a racial slur, we’ve discussed the incident with our Country brand leadership team and together have made the decision to remove Morgan’s music from Entercom’s playlists.” In addition to iHeartRadio and Entercom making these decisions, Variety reported that Cumulus Media, which has more than 400 radio stations, is also pulling Wallen’s songs.

“Team, unfortunately, country music star Morgan Wallen was captured on video Sunday evening using a racial slur,” Brian Philips, EVP of programming, and John Dimick, head of programming operations, wrote in their directive. “Effective immediately, we request that all of Morgan Wallen’s music be removed from our playlists without exception. More to follow.” All of these updates come shortly after video footage emerged in which Wallen could be heard using the N-word. In the footage captured by one of his neighbors, Wallen tells one of his friends to look over another member of their group. He tells the individual “take care of” this “p— a— mother—” and then added, “take care of this p— a— n—” before he headed inside his home.

Wallen did release a statement to TMZ in which he apologized for using this language. His statement read, “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.”