Justin Bieber is publicly retracting his support for Morgan Wallen, the country singer who recently got “canceled” this past February for using a racial slur.
Bieber recently took to Instagram to praise an album he has been listening to non-stop. Posting a photo of Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, the Biebs wrote in his post, “Love this album.”Almost immediately after publishing, the “Peaches” singer immediately received backlash for praising the country artist.
Once Bieber was educated on the matter, he deleted the photo from his story and released an apology statement via Instagram.
“I had no idea that the guy’s music I posted was recently found saying racist comments, as you know I don’t support or tolerate any sort of racism or discrimination,” the 27-year-old megastar wrote. “I had no idea, I sincerely apologize to anyone I offended.”
Bieber then continued with a second slide on his Instagram story, going deeper into the issue by once again apologizing for his insensitive actions and behavior from his younger years.
“When I was a kid, I was incredibly ignorant and said some very hurtful racist jokes that were clearly not funny,” he wrote. “I hurt a lot of people, especially the Black people in my life but was fortunate enough to have had them educate me on the horrifying origin of the N-word. This brings those painful memories back up, I will always take ownership for my ignorance and my past because I know I am not that person.”
Bieber continued the post with many promises to his fans. He claims that though he still has a long way to go, he has learned a lot from the people in his life and will continue to strive for improvement.
To catch you up on the situation, TMZ acquired a video of the country singer using a racial slur outside Wallen’s home in Nashville back in February.
The video displays the “Chasin’ You” crooner being dropped off at his Tennessee house after a rowdy night out. As the country artist walked up his driveway, he shouted to his friends, “Take care of this…(slur),” referring to another person in the group. The video was captured by a doorbell camera and a neighbors cellphone.
After TMZ posted the video, the musician released an apologetic statement. “I’m embarrassed and sorry,” Morgan told the news outlet. “I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. 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.”
Aside from issuing an apology on Instagram a few weeks after, the “Whiskey Glasses” singer stayed mum on social media for a bit, before making an appearance on Good Morning America in July to sit down with Michael Strahanand open up about the video and the controversy it caused.
When describing the night the video was taken, Wallen shared in the interview that he was out with longtime friends partying.
“I was around some of my friends, and we just, we say dumb stuff together,” said Wallen. “And it was, in our minds, it’s playful … that sounds ignorant, but it..that’s really where it came from and it’s wrong.”
He further claimed that he did not mean the term in a “derogatory manner” when used to refer to one of his friends.The artist admitted that although he did not use the word frequently, it was one he has used with this specific friend group before.
“It’s one of my best friends..he was, we were all clearly drunk. I was askin’ his girlfriend to take care of him because he was drunk and he was leavin,” said Wallen.”I think I was just ignorant about it. I don’t think I sat down and was, like, ‘Hey, is this right or is this wrong?’”
The video, taken by neighbors outside Wallen’s Nashville home, led to repercussions such as suspension from his recording contract, disqualification from some music awards shows and various radio stations pulling his music.
Wallen’s album Dangerous: The Double Album doesn’t exactly need Bieber’s endorsement, as it is the highest-selling and streaming album of the year. It has spent numerous weeks at the top of many music charts, with a majority of the numbers coming after the video surfaced.
Do you support Justin Bieber and his decision to “un-support” Morgan and his music? Let us know by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
With additional reporting by Juliet Schroder and Kelly Gilmore. For more Country news, visit CelebSecretsCountry.com.
