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IIn the five months since Morgan Wallen was filmed using the N word, he spent 30 days in rehab, apologized, and is said to have met with black music officials and advocacy organizations. civil rights. But despite all of his self-proclaimed upbringing, it’s clear he hasn’t learned anything.
The country music star sat down for her first TV interview after Friday’s scandal with Hello americaMichael Strahan blew the air after radio stations withdrew his music and his record company curtly announced that his contract was “suspended.”
Somehow, although he was surely prepared at length for this interview, which was pre-recorded and the result heavily edited, Wallen seemed painfully ignorant at best, and at worst outright feigning sincerity.
Back in February, TMZ posted a video of a drunken Wallen stumbling at home after a night out in Nashville with a group of friends. He lightly slanders her words by telling a friend: “Take care of that motherfucker pussy…. take care of that pussy [N-word]. “
Wallen admitted that he sometimes used the insult around this “certain group of friends,” but denied using the N word frequently. “It just happened,” he tried to explain. “I was with some of my friends and we say stupid things together. In our minds, it’s playful, you know? It sounds ignorant, but that’s really where it comes from. And it is wrong.
Strahan then asks Wallen directly if he understands the weight and historical context of the racial epithet, and Wallen’s response is illuminating.
“I heard stories in the initial conversations I had after [using the N-word] pretty much how people are treated even today, ”he said. “I haven’t seen it with my eyes, that pain or that insignificant feeling, no matter what makes you feel.”
For a 28 year old man to go through life, especially after the events of 2020, when America had to contend with racial injustice and police brutality against black people following the police murder of George Floyd , and to admit that he’s only “heard stories” about historically documented discrimination against blacks and why the use of insult is heinous, is incredibly embarrassing.
Strahan must have been equally stunned as he then patiently explained to Wallen why the insult is harmful, pointing out that it was often used to dehumanize black people, especially slaves, and during the Jim Crow era.
“If you dig deeper, [it’s] a word many black people have heard before being terrorized, beaten or even possibly killed, ”Strahan said. “I was called. It makes you angry, it makes you angry, doesn’t make you feel good at all.
Strahan posed the question again to Wallen, asking him if he now understands why the insult “makes black people so upset.”
“I don’t know how to put myself in their shoes because I’m not,” Wallen offered. “But I understand, especially when I say I use it for fun or whatever, out of ignorance I understand that it has to sound, you know, like ‘He doesn’t understand, he doesn’t understand.'”
This isn’t the first time that Strahan, who is black, has found himself in this kind of awkward position: interviewing a white person who ended up in hot water because of insensitive or offensive racist comments, and who is then came to look for him to make a mea culpa. .
In March, a long time The single person host Chris Harrison spoke to Strahan after Bachelor Candidate Rachael Kirkconnell was pictured at an Antebellum South themed party. Harrison had blindly and repeatedly defended Kirkconnell, wondering if attending such a party was downright wrong, or only wrong through the 2021 goal. Harrison came along GMA apologize and profess that he was wrong to “perpetuate racism”. After the pre-recorded interview was over, Strahan summed up the situation by saying, “It was like I had nothing more than a cursory response.”
At another point during the seven-minute interview, Wallen embarked on a story about his personal atonement journey, claiming he had gone to rehab for 30 days. “I spent time in San Diego, Calif., Trying to figure out why I am acting this way,” he said. “Do I have a drinking problem? Do I have a deeper problem? “
He also said he met with the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) and black music leaders including Eric Hutcherson and Kevin Liles. Wallen said he took the $ 500,000 he earned from increased music sales and donated the money to several civil rights organizations, including BMAC.
The BMAC and NAACP did not return The Daily Beast’s request for comment to confirm whether a donation was made to the organization on Wallen’s behalf. The ACLU said it did not disclose its donors, or whether anyone had met with organization leaders.
Previously, Wallen had canceled a meeting with NAACP Nashville President Sherlyn Guinn after her team allegedly agreed to a discussion following the video.
But perhaps the most illuminating example of Wallen’s refusal to really think about what he said and learn from his mistakes came when Strahan asked if he thought there was a bigger problem. in country music and race issues.
The question came on Strahan’s heels pointing to the fact that Wallen’s music streams increased “over 500 percent” as fans rallied around him in a demonstration of support.
Wallen said that “it would seem that way,” before adding quickly, “I didn’t really sit down and thought about it. “
It’s a clear demonstration that Wallen didn’t take the time to reflect and learn how this kind of ignorance plays out in his own industry, which statistically has very few black artists, with just 0.5%. country radio music from artists of color. . Country music has long faced broader issues with race. And during the pivotal protests last summer, there was a noticeable lack of artists in the industry who spoke out against white supremacy.
For Wallen to ignore the question, after spending the last five months educating himself, it’s a sign he hasn’t learned anything. Instead, he just wants to be back in the good graces of society, even if that means offering empty apologies and empty words.
“I’m never going to make, you know, everyone happy,” Wallen said at one point. “I can only come and tell my truth, and that’s all I can do.”
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