Morgan Wallen is opening a bar in Nashville — but cannot include outside signage due to his past controversies.
Multiple local Nashville outlets reported that on Tuesday, May 21, the city’s Metro Council voted against Wallen, 31, putting up a 20-foot neon sign to advertise his new bar. The sign was set to read “Morgan Wallen’s This Bar,” and hang outside the upcoming establishment located on Broadway next to the Ryman Auditorium.
Wallen’s bar, named This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen, is set to open over Memorial Day Weekend and will feature six bars, a rooftop and multiple music stages. On Tuesday, 30 council members voted against Wallen’s sign while only three were in favor. Four abstained from the vote.
“I don’t want to see a billboard up with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs,” Council member Delishia Porterfield said, per The Tennessean newspaper, referring to Wallen’s past indiscretions. (Wallen made headlines in 2021 after a video of him saying the N-word surfaced online. He has since apologized.)
A second council member, Jordan Huffman, stated that Wallen “gives all of us a bad name,” during Tuesday’s meeting. “His comments are hateful; his actions are harmful.”
Wallen has not spoken publicly about the council’s decision.
Wallen was arrested in April after allegedly throwing a chair from the rooftop of Eric Church’s bar in Nashville. Police officers were standing outside the establishment when a chair fell from above, landing next to them, the Metro Nashville Police Department told Us Weekly at the time.
After employees claimed that Wallen had thrown the chair, he was arrested and ultimately charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
The singer’s lawyer, Worrick Robinson, said he was “cooperating fully with authorities,” in a statement to Us at the time. Wallen did not issue a statement of his own until nearly two weeks after the incident.
“I 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,” he shared via X at the time. “I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change.”
Wallen, who is currently on his One Night at a Time Tour, waived his right to appear in court earlier this month and Robinson attended a scheduled hearing on the singer’s behalf. Wallen is set to appear in court on August 15.
