Back in February, Morgan Wallen seemed to have sufficiently ended his career after being caught by a neighbor using a racial slur in his driveway coming home from what he called "hour 72 of a 72-hour bender." Per TMZ, Wallen is heard saying to his friend's girlfriend, "take care of this “p****-ass mother******” — and then goes on to say, “take care of this p****-ass n*****." Wallen was immediately released from his label contract and country music institutions like the Academy of Country Music all scrambled to distance themselves from the singer as his music was pulled from all country music stations. Multiple country stars, like Marren Morris, spoke out against his use of the word as well. But as Morgan Wallen appeared on Good Morning America today to grovel for forgiveness months later, his inability to adequately digest his actions points to a more nefarious reality that is the "bro country" ethos and culture that consumes a good deal of the country music industry.
