Morgan Wallen faces backlash for recent scandal, putting his new found popularity and support at risk

With concerts and music festivals on hold during the current pandemic, many country fans were filled with excitement for the up and coming new album Dangerous: The Double Album by Morgan Wallen. 

His new album was released earlier this year on Jan. 8, and many were blown away by the talent. Wallen had previously released an album in 2018, and has continued to drop hit singles throughout recent years. With 15 new songs and 3 bonus tracks, this album had earned him an even bigger fan base. Many songs from the new album reached the top of multiple charts on Apple Music and Spotify. 

Senior Will Brust is a big fan of Morgan Wallen as a country artist. “He is my current favorite [country artist]. He has an ability to make great upbeat and slow songs which makes his music never get old,” Brust said. Wallens new album has a mix of songs from a range of fast to slow and happy to sad, that creates an entertaining album overall. 

Although Wallen has furthered his career with the popular album, recent media has revealed a possible career damaging scandal. In the recent weeks, Wallen has faced backlash and hate from several fans and media due to the use of a racial slur after a night out. Many radio stations and other media have not taken this lightly, and the support he has been receiving is quickly turning around into shame. 

“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,” said a rep from iHeartMedia reporting to CNN. Not only has this organization removed his content from their media, many others have followed along with the trend. 

The big question is whether fans will be able to forgive him and hope that he will be a better influencer in the music industry, or will Wallen face backlash for quite some time? 

Fans definitely have mixed feelings and are shocked by the scandal from him. “Yes, he received a lot of hate from the media and he did deserve it,” Brust said. “I feel like it won’t impact his popularity, but maybe some fans won’t respect him as much. I still feel the people who enjoy his music will listen regardless”. 

Some other fans have mixed feelings and don’t know how to respond to the scandal. “I was a bit shocked to hear someone with a big platform say something like that,”   junior Jenna Ridder said. “I believe that he still is a good guy who just made a mistake.” 

Junior Will Vaile also has a big interest in Wallen’s music, and still plans to listen. “I listen whene

ver I feel the country vibes, which is mostly every day,” he said. “I don’t think it will change much, but others may not want to [listen].” 

This scandal is not the first time Wallen has dealt with hate from the media. In  October of 2020, Wallen was caught partying and disregarding Covid-19 guidelines. Fans were also upset that he was caught with girls around the age of 19 at a bar, keeping in mind that he has a baby. He was given a lot of backlash for his actions, and lost his SNL spot. 

Many can’t decide whether supporting him as an artist is something they feel comfortable with. Both  scandals have brought a lot of attention to him, especially with a new award-winning album that had just reached top charts.. It’s up to his fans to decide if they can eventually forgive him, or if he has ruined his reputation too much and hurt his chances of becoming an even more popular country artist.