Students react to Morgan Wallen controversy

A video of one of the country music industries biggest rising singers Morgan Wallen using a racial slur surfaced in social media recently. The video showed Wallen intoxicated and referring to one of his friends as “the n-word.” Wallen’s neighbor released the video caught on their security cameras to TMZ. Social media platforms immediately came after Wallen for his racial insensitivity. 

Music platforms such as iHeartRadio and SiriusXM dropped his music and content from their platform. Music label Big Loud suspended Wallen’s recording contract according to verified social media pages.The Country Music Awards is suspending him as well. 

“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,” a spokesperson from iHeartRadio told Rolling Stone said. 

However, Wallen’s sales have been skyrocketing after his racial slur controversy. Despite being removed from streaming platforms, Morgan Wallen’s streams have not dipped at all, and after his release of a new album, his sales rose 1,200 percent compared to the day before.

Wallen apologized publicly to TMZ, saying, “I’m embarrassed and sorry,” and “I promise to do better.”

Peet freshman Emma Dunn explained why Wallen’s mistake won’t stop her from listening to his music. “I mean I don’t think Morgan Wallen saying a racial slur will necessarily stop me from listening to his music. However, I will for sure think of him differently. I think a lot of people, especially celebrities, need to watch what they say, especially something like a racial slur because it hurts a lot of people. I think what he did was very ignorant, especially with what is going on with the BLM movements and all the racial injustice, but I will continually appreciate the music he has made just because I love his songs, but I do not agree with what he did at all,” Dunn said.