Two of country music's biggest names are calling out Morgan Wallen after a video surfaced of the "7 Summers" singer saying the N-word.
On Feb. 2, TMZ published a video recorded by one of The Voice alum's neighbors of Morgan using the racial slur during a night out in Nashville.
Shortly after receiving backlash from the video, Morgan apologized for his actions in a statement to E! News. "I'm embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back," he wrote. "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."
On Feb. 2, Kelsea Ballerini took to Twitter to write, "The news out of Nashville tonight does not represent country music."
Maren Morris replied to Kelsea's comment, writing back, "yup. we'd be dropped, endorsements lost, social pariahs to music row [sic]..."
In a follow-up tweet, the "I Could Use a Love Song" artist added, "It actually IS representative of our town because this isn't his first 'scuffle' and he just demolished a huge streaming record last month regardless. We all know it wasn't his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse."
Yet, the music industry does seem to be holding Morgan accountable.
In a statement to E! News, a spokesperson for Country Music Television said, "After learning of Morgan Wallen's racial slur late last night, we are in the process of removing his appearances from all our platforms. We do not tolerate or condone words and actions that are in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion."
Wendy Goldberg, iHeart Media's Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, added, "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."
This is not the first time Morgan has received backlash for poor behavior in recent months. He lost his gig performing on Saturday Night Live in October 2020 after he was seen breaking COVID-19 protocol in TikTok videos of the artist partying mask-less.