Morgan Wallen and the City of Nashville have beef. The latter recently tried to claim that the former “doesn’t belong” after repeated ill-behaved incidents over the last few years.
He fired right back with a not-so subtle troll on Instagram.
Wallen, who was most recently in the news for throwing a chair from the rooftop of Eric Church’s bar on Music City’s famous Lower Broadway, is currently building a bar of his own. Well, his name is attached.
The 31-year-old country music superstar partnered with TC Restaurant Group, the same hospitality company that operates Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa, Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen & Rooftop Bar, and Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottoms Up. Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen is expected to open later this year. It will be located adjacent to the Ryman Auditorium.
However, Wallen’s name may not be featured on the sign. There may not even be a sign!
TC Restaurant Group requested permission from the city council for an “aerial encroachment” outside of the new bar. Permission was necessary because the proposed sign encroached on a city right of way. It would allow for a neon sign similar to the rest of bars the street.
Here is how it would look:
Metro Nashville City Council said no. They voted to deny the proposal earlier this week.
Councilwoman Porterfield referenced the recent chair incident, as well as Wallen’s use of a racial slur in 2021.
We just passed legislation a little earlier tonight saying that we wanted to make sure that Nashville was a supportive place for everyone, so I don’t want to see a billboard with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs and using the n-word, so I’m voting no.
— Delishia Danielle Porterfield
Councilwoman Brenda Gadd doesn’t believe that Wallen deserves another chance.
Someone who continues to get second chances, I think the third party operator, surely they don’t need any reminder about his racist comments, using the n-word, his pledge to the NAACP for funding and then him never fulfilling that commitment. Mr. Wallen has also received many more opportunities since then, and he’ll receive one through other operators, but I can’t with a good conscience support this because of that.
— Brenda Gadd
Councilman Jordan Hoffman was even more harsh.
Number one, Mr. Wallen is a fellow East Tennessean. He gives all of us a bad name. His comments are hateful, his actions are harmful, and you don’t belong in this town as far as I’m concerned. I’m tired of this city bending over to just make anybody happy that makes a comment that they want to. We continue to go down this road. I encourage my colleagues to vote against this.
— Jordan Hoffman
Councilman Jacob Kupin represents the Broadway district. He sponsored the bill and even voted yes. However, even his vote came with some reservation.
This is a sign encroachment for Morgan Wallen’s new bar that crossed my desk right about the time that he decided to throw a chair off of a rooftop, nearly hitting some first responders…
It struck me that we’re putting up a sign with someone’s name on it who has not been a good actor downtown.
He has since made efforts to apologize and to make amends. And so I decided to move approval for this because I do support the efforts to kind of move this bar forward. I also want to say that the restaurant group that’s managing this facility, TC Restaurant Group, has been really, really a good partner in everything going on downtown…
The fact that someone’s name going up on a bar doesn’t mean that we condone all the behavior, but again I appreciate the efforts to make amends, the positive response. And again, the operator themselves I don’t think should be penalized for what happened.
— Jacob Kupin
The resolution ultimately failed with three votes in favor, 30 votes against and four abstentions. It was pretty spicy!
Morgan Wallen fired back!
In response to the notion that he does not belong in Nashville, Wallen made a clear statement with one single photo on his Instagram story.
Wallen sold out three nights at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans, earlier this month. Nashville welcomed him with open arms. The City did not have any problem with the additional revenue from concertgoers who stayed in hotels, drank and ate at local bars, and spent their money at local shops.
Why now?
Because this “no” vote was pretty singularly based on the fact that it is Wallen’s name, do not be surprised if TPC tries to take it to court. Local ordinances may regulate signs if the regulations are content-neutral, but not content-based. This vote is the pretty clearly latter.
Metro Nashville City Council did not have any misgivings about the sign. Just the name.
Meanwhile, Kid Rock’s Big. Ass. Honky Tonk! is located around the corner. This is the sign:
Morgan Wallen is probably going to get his sign. It might take some lengthy, unnecessary litigation, but the basis of the council’s vote will presumably be reason enough to overturn the “no” vote.