Nelly Reveals Morgan Wallen Won’t Appear on His Country-Inspired Album Despite Friendship

Nelly has revealed that Morgan Wallen will not appear on his forthcoming country-inspired album, despite their ongoing friendship. Nelly was on hand at the iHeart Radio Awards Thursday night and addressed the question fans have been curious about. “He’s not on this album,” the rapper replied when asked if Wallen contributed to the project.

Nelly then went on to address the racial slur controversy that has been surrounding Wallen for the past few months. “What I will say is that, yes, I am friends with Morgan, and, yes, we all make mistakes,” Nelly said. He then noted that he believes it’s important to “recognize our mistakes” and begin “moving forward,” calling this “a process that we all have to do.” Finally, he clarified his feelings on the situation by saying, “I’m not happy about what he did, but I can forgive a guy that’s trying to make it right.”

Earlier this year, Wallen was caught on camera using a racial slur, sparking significant backlash. While the controversy has not hurt his album sales, it has led to him facing consequences from his record label, as well as being disinvited from awards shows. Wallen resurfaced on social media in April, providing an update on himself and expressing further regret over his actions.

“First of all I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me during this time,” Wallen wrote in the Instagram post. “I have felt a lot of love lately from many individuals I have met and from so many people I haven’t gotten to know yet. I know my corner hasn’t been the most popular one to stand in recently, but many of you did anyway.” The country singer later added, “I wanted to let you guys know that I’ve taken a couple months away and feel like I’ve really worked on myself. I’m proud of the work I’ve put in, and in many ways thankful to have had the time to do it. I’ve needed this time off.”

Wallen went on to write, “I moved to Nashville at 22. I never really gave myself a chance to survey the man I became during that time. I can already see a big difference between 22-year-old me and 27-year-old me. I hope there’s a big difference between the 27-year-old me now and the 32-year-old me one day.” The country star finally added that he “will always strive to be better,” then adding, “Not only has this time revealed to me the ways in which I want to improve, but it’s also reminded me that I am still very proud of who I am and the man I am becoming.”