Just weeks after declaring that country singer Morgan Wallen was ineligible to win any awards, the prestigious Academy of Country Music now appears to be taking steps to ensure that the singer is not mentioned at all during the upcoming awards ceremony. ACM, or, for that matter, in any event prior to the ceremony, interviews or other commitments.
The highly unusual gag order is not formally announced, but is communicated through “unofficial channels,” Digital Music News has learned. A source close to the Academy specifically noted that Wallen “cannot and will not be mentioned” at any point during the broadcast, while noting that even covert nods to the “elephant in the room” will not be tolerated.
Earlier last month, the Academy of Country Music quickly disqualified Morgan Wallen from award eligibility after video footage surfaced of the singer uttering the n-word outside his home. The CMAs were just one of several groups that rejected the singer, including nearly every country radio station in the United States, Spotify, Apple Music, Sirius XM, Pandora, William Morris Agency, Country Music Television, and Big Loud / Republic (Universal Music). Group). , among others.
That seemed enough to completely end Wallen’s career, although disqualification from the Country Music Awards is now being complicated by Morgan Wallen’s surge in popularity and sales.
The singer’s latest album, Dangerous: The Double Album, just spent its eighth consecutive week at number one, breaking a 64-year country music sales record. And more than a dozen of the singer’s tracks are currently at No. 1 on Spotify, as fervent fans ditch their local radio stations in favor of on-demand broadcasts while demanding that the stations reinstate the artist.
All of that is putting a bright spotlight on Wallen and making his absence all the more obvious at the upcoming ACM Awards. Of course, Wallen has already been removed from any official Country Music Awards material, including the awards show website. Now, the Male Artist of the Year award is a battle between Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, and Dierks Bentley, with a similar group of nominees vying for the coveted Academy Award for Artist of the Year.
All of that is creating a giant elephant in the room, although it seems the Academy is comfortable with the arrangement. Separately, it should be noted that some voices within the industry, even publicly, advocate allowing Wallen to return to the fold. It’s unclear if the ACM Awards offer forgiveness to Wallen, though one possibility would be that Wallen apologizes more on the broadcast. But the idea seems highly unlikely given the presence of major advertisers and the resilience of the music industry in general.
Previously, Wallen has apologized for the use of racial slurs, although that has done little to persuade media outlets. At the time of writing, only one radio station, 96.7 Merle FM in Knoxville, Tennessee, has reinstated Wallen on their playlists.
Separately, Spotify has reinstalled Wallen on several of its country playlists and has even released an improved version of Dangerous. But the singer remains excluded from Spotify’s top country playlist, Hot Country, which has more than 6.2 million followers.
The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards is scheduled to air Sunday, April 18 on CBS.
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I won’t be watching the ACM’s now that Morgan Wallen isn’t allowed to participate or even have his name mentioned. Feel sorry for the losers who think they are the winners of certain categories. Gonna suck to be them and not know without a doubt they were truly the winner. Cancel culture sucks!! Morgan will come back better, more fierce, and stronger than ever. Hope everyone whom has anything to do with the ACM show making these decisions are perfect angels and have never made a bad decision. Karma will get each of you. The man has publicly apologized, what happened to forgiveness? #wallenstrong #istandwithMorgan
Pot calling kettle black. Every single person with their UPPITY noses putting someone down is SCUM…you all will NEVER be half a good hearted person as Morgan Wallen!!!!!
Every sinner has a future and every saint has a past. The last time I checked no one was perfect or without flaws. One mistake should not cost a person their life or livelihood. The ACM should be ashamed of their participation in cancel culture. Obviously no one has lifted a Bible while they were sitting on top of their high horses! Judge not or you too shall be judged. The majority of real country music fans acknowledge someone’s faults or imperfections and choose to support them anyway. Also this article made a false statement saying that only one station is playing Morgan’s music. Several stations are keeping his music in rotation and his true fans are streaming him daily and keeping him at the top of the charts. The numbers don’t lie! I will continue to listen and be a fan of Morgan Wallen regardless of what the ACM thinks. I will not be watching the ACM Awards this year or any awards show that refuses to list any popular talented hard working artist.