Morgan Wallen’s recent arrest has raised eyebrows at the University of Mississippi.
Wallen, 30, is slated to perform at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, which serves as the home for Ole Miss’ football team, on Saturday, April 20. However, after the singer was arrested in Nashville on Sunday, April 7, for allegedly throwing a chair over a balcony, university officials are preparing themselves for the possibility of a cancellation.
“We are aware of the situation, but no changes have been relayed to us yet,” Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter told SuperTalk Mississippi Media via email. “We are obviously monitoring everything very closely.”
Wallen previously canceled an April 2023 show at the Mississippi venue minutes before he was set to take the stage. While there was speculation that he was out partying ahead of the show, he cited “doctor-ordered vocal rest” in an Instagram statement. Concertgoer Brandi Burcham filed a class action lawsuit days later.
“Even if ticket prices are refunded, no offer has been made to reimburse concertgoers for other out-of-pocket expenses they incurred in connection with the concert cancellation, including transportation, lodging, food, merchandise sales, transaction fees and other such expenses,” she stated in court documents.
According to documents obtained by Us Weekly at the time, the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice shortly after it was filed. “Refunds were issued yesterday by the venue, and those credits will hit the customer accounts within 3-5 days which is standard procedure,” Wallen’s rep told Us in a statement.
Concerns that the country artist could cancel on Ole Miss for a second time come after Us confirmed on Monday, April 8, that Wallen was charged with three counts of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct following an alleged incident at fellow musician Eric Church’s Chief’s Bar on Sunday.
“At 10:53 pm Sunday evening Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct,” Wallen’s lawyer, Worrick Robinson, told Us in a statement. “He is cooperating fully with authorities.”
Metro Nashville police officers were reportedly standing outside Chief’s Bar on Sunday night when a chair fell from above them, hitting the ground close to where they were standing, Metro Nashville PD confirmed to Us. News Channel 5 Nashville reported that employees at the bar claimed that Wallen threw the chair from six stories high.
Per the arrest report, police officers later viewed a video that showed Wallen “lunging and throwing an object over the roof.” Wallen’s bond was set at $15, 250. He is set to appear in court on Friday, May 3.
This is not the first time that Wallen has sparked controversy. In May 2020, he was arrested outside of Kid Rock’s Nashville Bar, Big Honky Tonk, for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He was later cleared of all charges.
“I went out downtown last night with a few old friends. After a couple bar stops, we were horse-playing with each other,” Wallen wrote via X of the incident at the time. “We didn’t mean any harm, and we want to say sorry to any bar staff or anyone that was affected.”
That October, he was disinvited from appearing as the Saturday Night Live musical guest for breaking the show’s COVID-19 protocols during a night out.
“I’m not positive for COVID, but my actions this past weekend were pretty short-sighted and that have obviously affected my long-term goals and my dreams,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “I respect the show’s decision because I know that I put them in jeopardy. I take ownership for this.”
Wallen appeared on SNL just two months later. However, he faced further backlash in February 2021 after videos of him using the N-word surfaced. In the wake of the scandal, his record label suspended him indefinitely and The Academy of Country Music announced that Wallen’s second album, Dangerous: The Double Album, would be ineligible for the 56th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.
Wallen subsequently issued an apology video asking his fans not to defend him and noted that he’d received an invitation from the Nashville chapter of the NAACP to meet and discuss his use of the racial slur.
“They had every right to step on my neck while I was down, to not show me any grace. But they did the exact opposite — they offered me grace, and they also paired that with an offer to learn and to grow,” he said in the video.
Wallen’s recent arrest came days after his ex-fiancée, Katie “KT” Smith, with whom he shares 3-year-old son Indigo, revealed via Instagram that she married Luke Scornavacco just days after announcing their engagement.
