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| Rolling Stone |
There's a saying: "When someone tells you who you are, believe them".
There's another saying: "A drunk tongue speaks a sober mind."
There's a saying in the workplace: "Don't defecate where you eat."
If only Morgan Wallen adhered to these sayings.
The country music star made an utter fool of himself this week, when he again got caught on a viral video with his head up his ass. This time, instead of doing something dumb that cost him something important (that being jamming with and kissing attendees at a local bar party, causing his October 10 appearance on Saturday Night Live to be cancelled [he would later perform on the show during its December 5 episode]), he said something dumb that cost him something important (he got caught drunkenly yelling the N-word to someone in reference to someone else outside his home.)
Since the video's recording back on January 31 and its release by TMZ on February 2, a few radio companies ordered their stations to remove his music from airplay, CMT cut visual ties with him, the Academy of Country Music deemed him and his album ineligible for nominations for their award, the streaming sites dropped his discography, and his record label Big Loud suspended his recording contract indefinitely. Basically, those companies "miss-me-with-that-bullshit"-ed him real quick. And I don't blame them. After unsurprising backlash, Wallen admitted to using the word and issued an apology.
This both aggravated and amused me. The aggravation comes from the obvious fact that he said the n-word out loud. But that halfway turned into amusement when I learned he was drunk at the time. Seconds after, I thought "wait a minute, that doesn't excuse him for saying a racial slur". Then I got mad. While the radio station drop was admittedly shocking and a bit wild, I felt absolutely no sympathy for Wallen. You guys already knew my thoughts about him during the college party scandal that postponed his SNL appearance in my review of the episode (Lorne Michaels still was way too forgiving), and my opinions not only still hold up, they're reinforced here. I don't know what it is with Morgan, but to me it seems like he's a self-destructing dude. Every time something big happens to advance his career, he goes and fucks up everything - leading up to a calm before a storm and after that should've destroyed his career for the better. But because people are forgiving to him (read: foolishly willing to part with their money to this fool), he bounces back harder than Big Sean in 2017. So maybe after this he thought he's invincible and decided to do whatever he wants and prey on the open nature of the weak-minded in the hopes that they'll defend and protect him and his career so keep on moving on because they see him as a good ol' country boy working hard and paying his dues to make it in the big time. At least that's how I see it; because there are idiots out there (including many in the comments section of the above video [some of them black people according to their avatars]) scoring Olympic gold in mental gymnastics trying their damndest to justify Wallen (whom if you've forgotten is a white man) saying the most degrading, demeaning and disgusting racial slur of all time. Some of their bullshit excuses include "Oh he was drunk", "It's just a word", "He was calling his friend that", "He said nigga" (the video showed he said the '-er' version because there are five stars spelling out the 'igger' part, and he admitted it in his apology) (and as '-a' that is any better), "The person who recorded it was waiting for a payday" and "He was saying that on his property and the person recording it is stalking him by illegally recording him" (even though he was outside saying it in public walking to his property, and the person recording it every right to do it because it is legal; being fully outside on your property doesn't protect you from being recorded). And to tack on the last point, the video begins seconds before the infamous sentence, showing some type of dispersion happening one night after bar-hopping, with the person recording what they thought was a public disturbance (and/or they probably recognized Wallen's voice and wanted to record him up close) and also caught something they didn't expect.
It's both bewildering and laughable that people see this man as being one of their own to quickly defend him instead of getting out of dodge to protect themselves as they witnessed him committing a big no-no in public life. Fuck, another country hitmaker, popular duo Brooks & Dunn, called Wallen's public flagging "censorship". Listen here, boys -- THIS IS NOT CENSORSHIP!!! Morgan never said the word in his music or in a speech; he said the word in public - in front of other people - on public property. It's not like he had a recording studio in his pocket and hit record on everything he spoke as he went and is protected. Everyone has the right to say whatever they want, but they must remember that saying whatever they want carries consequences (and he's getting a major dose of them right now). But they always seem to forget that the moment they open their mouths (and not just when they're hammered). So shut the fuck up and stick to what you know - because throwing around trendy buzzwords in the right context that certainly isn't "political" is not one of them.
If you're a black person saying that it's just a word and that you're okay with white people saying both versions of nigger, you're either a moron lying out of your ass or are better at sarcasm than I will ever be. If you're white and see no problem with one of you're own saying nigger our loud anywhere, you're worse than he is (#sorrynotsorry). And I don't wanna hear shit about how rappers get to say it and not white people; whites shouldn't say it because slave owners used it as a demeaning, degrading term meant to put down slaves. Rappers say it as one of the ways to take the power of the slur back to the black community (and partially because that's the only interesting thing they have left over their shitty bars, weak-as-water flows and ultra-repetitive beat-work). It's not just a word; it's a racial slur - a racial slur that carries on centuries of pain, abuse, suffering, disgust and terror. I think no one should have any excuse of saying that or any other slur, but white people especially -- cause come on. I'm not saying nor thinking all of them do it (obviously), but if you really feel the need to shout racial slurs (as a stress release or something), even though you're not supposed to, at least do it in front of a mirror; at least your audience of one is satisfied. And if/when they actually complain about being told not to use it and being called racist if they do it -- as if the air of superiority still lingers on, it makes me just laugh seeing those types of people cry their crocodile tears about not doing something they still think their race seems good at. Other than drinking.
Remember, being drunk takes every stupid thing you can think of at that moment and turns them into actually saying and doing every stupid thing you can act on. Inhibitions be damned. Being drunk doesn't nor shouldn't excuse anyone for being a self-humiliating dumbass and disruptor of the peace no matter where you are, and people defending other people doing dumb shit they should keep to themselves while wasted in front of others as just being drunk are just as bad for brushing off and enabling this behavior. Which Wallen's fans did almost immediately after the video hit the ether, which I expected like clockwork to my annoyance and amusement. Then I realized Country fans are mostly like Wallen so no surprise there.
And that's when Morgie here told them not to. Wallen then posted an apology video a few days later, telling his fans not to defend his actions in the video or enable them.
I didn't watch more than once because I felt it just as disingenuous as the last, and it's obvious as to why he made both: to get back on the good graces of his record label and the media, and... oh yeah, MONEY. He needed to make more bank that way to he can make music again and then make more money. But he didn't have to do that because his fans already made Mr. Monopoly rich. Again, Dangerous stayed at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a fourth week. I wouldn't be surprised if all this blows over and Wallen - instead of staying with Big Loud - went the independent route to score even more bags without the middleman. And he can say nigger (or any word he knows he shouldn't) as many times sober as he wants without any record company hovering over him. I'm just joking... (Or am I?)
I wanted to say I don't care about this, but since you're this far in this MMost, that's not true. I don't hate him. And I actually don't want this guy to watch the career he worked so hard for collapse right in front of him (he does make admittedly decent country music), but I don't feel sorry for him for continuing to do and say stupid things in the public eye that jeopardizes his career just as it's taking off. It's as if being famous gives him more leeway to be a slow-witted dolt. And it makes sense for all these companies to drop him from their services (at least temporarily) because they see him as a liability in their businesses in a more open, inclusive and sensitive time in history revolving minority races and ethnicities [and that's without saying we're currently in Black History Month]).
I don't take much offense to Wallen saying nigger; I honestly don't want anyone of any race (yes, even black) saying this epithet (but I've gotten used to hearing it a lot to get used to it since then). What I do take offense to is people tripping over themselves in their rushing to defend this guy as if he's a family member worth protecting from the hands of the abusive stepfather (read: the people who have the right to criticize him for good reason). It's as if he's still like one of them, despite the nice expensive home, big-ass pickup truck and bank account that makes your bank account look like your kid's piggy bank. He is not like you anymore and is not on your level anymore. And he probably wouldn't care about you unless you attend his concerts or buy his records. You are dollar bills to him from the last apology tour to the next. He will be back when all this blows over. He'll be back on the radio, on TV, on the award circuit and on the streaming sites. They'll realize that he is a hot country star making Taylor Swift money by Taylor Swift fan-like fans and they can and want get a piece of it when no one remembers this scandal anymore. It's bound to happen, and I won't be surprised. I'll just remember to slap myself if/when I get mad about this and move on from this bullshit. At this point in time, if my favorite artist fucks up, I'll just shut up, point and laugh, because they will get back up and make more money from their pathetic simps of stans.
It's all a matter of time...