Morgan Wallen breaks silence after Nashville arrest: 'I accept responsibility'
Country singer Morgan Wallen was arrested in Nashville after throwing a chair from a rooftop bar April 8, police say.
The incident occurred at Chief’s, a six-story bar, restaurant and music venue in downtown Nashville co-founded by country star Eric Church.
Wallen addressed the arrest in a statement April 19 and said he “didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks.”
“I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility. I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe,” he said in the statement.
He added that “there will be no change” to his touring plans.
Wallen, 30, was booked in the early hours of April 8 on three counts of felony reckless endangerment and one count of misdemeanor, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in an X post on April 8.
Police also said in the X post that Wallen threw a chair off the rooftop of Chief’s, and his arrest affidavit stated the chair landed three feet away from two police officers.
The affidavit also states that witnesses standing nearby “observed him pick up the chair and throw it over him, laughing afterward.”
A legal representative for Wallen confirmed his arrest to NBC News at the time.
“At 10:53p Sunday evening Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities,” Worrick Robinson of Worrick Robinson Law told NBC News in an email.
Police noted on X that Wallen’s bond had been set at $15,250. The country singer was released around 3:30 a.m. on April 8, according to records from Davidson County Jail.
Wallen, known for hits including “Chasin’ You” and “Last Night,” has made headlines in the past for various controversies.
In 2020, videos circulated on TikTok of him reportedly breaching Covid-19 protocols. Following this, he was pulled as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” in October of that year, but was subsequently rebooked on the show that December.
In 2021, he made headlines once more when he was caught on video using a racial slur. Following this incident, Wallen’s recording label announced on X that they had suspended his contract, and CMT and iHeartRadio dropped his music from their airwaves.
He later apologized for this incident in a February 2021 video message to fans on Instagram.
“The video you saw was me on hour 72 of 72 of a bender and that’s not something I’m proud of either,” he said in the video, in part.
“I let so many people down who mean a lot to me and who have given so much to me and it’s just not fair,” he added later in the video.
In a 2023 interview with Billboard, Wallen reflected on his use of the racial slur.
“There’s no excuse. I’ve never made an excuse. I never will make an excuse,” he said.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
