Grand Ole Opry faces backlash after Morgan Wallen’s debut
By TORRENCE BANKS
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — Grand Ole Opry is facing backlash after Morgan Wallen’s debut at the venue Saturday night.
The reaction comes after a video surfaced last year in which Wallen used a racial slur while with a group of friends in Nashville.
Wallen appeared with singer and songwriter ERNEST as they collaborated for a performance on their new song “Flower Shops.” ERNEST previously co-wrote Wallen’s 2021 song “More Than My Hometown.”
People expressed their disdain for the Grand Ole Opry’s decision to allow Wallen to perform, one of which was county music star Jason Isbell.
“Last night, you has a choice – either upset one guy and his ‘team,’ or break the hearts of a legion of aspiring Black country artists,” Isbell said on Twitter Sunday afternoon. “You chose wrong and I’m real sad for a lot of my friends today.”
The Black Opry Twitter account, which is known as a home for Black country music artists and fans, also posted a reaction to the Opry’s decision.
“I want them to see the hurt they’ve caused,” the post read. “And I want them to stand in their poor decision. Own it. So that I can convince anyone who still has any faith in them to abandon it.”
The Grand Ole Opry’s decision to allow Wallen to perform seems to contradict the message that they posted on Twitter in June 2020 during the national Black Lives Matter movement protests.
“Racism is real,” Grand Ole Opry posted. “It is unacceptable. And it has no place at The Grand Ole Opry.”
News4 has sent multiple emails to people representing the Opry, but we have not heard back.
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