Getty Image / Stephen J. Cohen
According to Darius Rucker, Morgan Wallen should be forgiven for the 2021 incident in which he was seen on camera using a racial slur.
Rucker, an African American who was previously the frontman of Hootie & The Blowfish but made the jump to a solo Country Music career after seeing overnight success with ‘Wagon Wheel,’ recently spoke about Morgan Wallen and said it’s time that he is forgiven by all due to Morgan’s ongoing efforts to better himself.
Speaking about the 2021 incident, Darius Rucker says “I think Morgan’s become a better person since that. I’ve known Morgan a long time. Since all that happened Morgan’s tried to really better himself and become a better person and see the world in a much better, better way. And you know, he’s not forgiven. He’s still not out for CMAs and ACMs. They can say what they want, but the fact that Morgan Wallen is not up for entertainer of the year and those things is crazy. No one’s selling more tickets than Morgan.” Here is the clip of him Rucker speaking:
The incident came to light back in early February 2021 after TMZ got ahold of a video where Morgan Wallen used a racial slur while walking up his driveway. Despite the incident leading to Wallen being removed from some radio stations, it actually led to a 1,220% increase in his song sales the day after the video was released and he occupied 13 of the top 20 spots on the Country Music charts after the racial slur came to light.
So to say that he got ‘canceled’ isn’t exactly fair as Dangerous was the best performing album of 2021 and it continued to set records in 2022. Morgan’s ‘One Thing At A Time’ is currently #3 on the Billboard 200. His ‘Dangerous: The Double Album’ occupies the 7th spot on the Billboard 200. And ‘If I Know Me’ is still on the Billboard 200 at #56 as well.
Morgan Wallen is #3 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart as well, ahead of Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, and others. So while Darius Rucker has a point that Morgan isn’t out there winning ‘Entertainer of the Year’ it is not as if that incident set him back at all in terms of sales and popularity over the past few years.
Ultimately, Darius Rucker knows Morgan Wallen a lot better than most. He claims to have known Wallen for years and if he has witnessed Wallen improving himself and becoming a better person it’s great to hear him share that with others. There are still a lot of people who are not ready to forgive Morgan Wallen. Just check X (formerly Twitter) by searching ‘Morgan Wallen’ and you will see plenty of negative posts out there from recent weeks.
It is a unique situation though. How do you forgive someone who was supported by fans throughout? How do you un-cancel someone who was never actually canceled in the first place and is arguably the biggest act in Country Music right now?
Morgan won 11 Billboard Music Awards in 2023 but lost the three CMAs he was nominated for. Is Darius Rucker speaking directly to the Country Music Association with his plea for forgiveness? It’s unclear but it seems that way as fan support has always been there.