Morgan Wallen vs. The CMA: A Complicated History

Morgan Wallen is, without a doubt, country music’s biggest commercial success story right now. The man could sing a song about just anything, and it’d probably go platinum. Yet, for someone who’s basically topping the charts year round, his relationship with the Country Music Association (CMA) has been... well, complicated.  

Wallen’s road to CMA recognition has been paved with controversy. It’s a story of talent versus industry scrutiny, and one that proves sometimes you can’t dim a star’s shine even if you try to keep him off the guest list.  

There were several initial incidents involving Wallen that would foreshadow larger controversies and complicate his relationship with the association. The 32-year-old singer had some brush ins with the law during the early stages of his career that influenced industry perception.  

On January 18, 2016, he was arrested for driving under the influence. The case, however, was dismissed five months later. He was arrested again on May 24, 2020, at Kid Rock’s bar for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Wallen allegedly kicked glass items, resulting in his ejection from the premises.   

In a since-deleted tweet, Wallen apologized about the incident: “Hey y’all just wanted to clear the air. I went out downtown last night with a few old friends. After a couple bar stops, we were horse-playing with each other. We didn’t mean any harm, and we want to say sorry to any bar staff or anyone that was affected. Thank you to the local authorities for being so professional and doing their job with class. Love y’all.”  

Same with his 2016 arrest, the incident was also later dismissed.  

In October 2020, videos of him surfaced on TikTok where he was shown socializing in Alabama without a mask at crowded venues, violating COVID-19 protocols. This incident led to the cancellation of his October 10, 2020 Saturday Night Live performance. Wallen addressed the issue by posting an emotional video on his Instagram, saying his actions were “pretty short-sighted” and he regretted jeopardizing the show.   

He appeared on the show later that year, where he and Jason Bateman did a sketch about his earlier canceled performance.  

The pivotal TMZ video incident on February 2, 2021, caught Wallen on camera yelling a slur and other expletives following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.  

Wallen immediately apologized, said he was “embarrassed and sorry” and that he “used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”  

Unfortunately, it changed everything for his industry relationships. The country music industry responded to the controversy with radio stations pulling his music and Big Loud Records suspending his recording contract indefinitely.  

However, fan support remained and Wallen's streaming numbers held steady at 28.66 million on-demand streams on February 4, while sales skyrocketed to 35,200 from 5,100 on the same date. His Dangerous album sales also increased by more than 500% within days of the controversy, making it one of the biggest albums of 2021, not only in country music but in any genre.   

Despite these controversies and industry backlash, Wallen still experienced remarkable commercial achievements. As of this year, he’s had 42.43 million total equivalent album sales and 39.977 million total streams. His album, Dangerous, released around the time of the racial slur incident, topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks, making it the first country album in decades to stay at the top of the charts for so long.  And his songs “One Thing at a Time” and “Last Night” also achieved monumental milestones, staying at No. 1 for 19 weeks, with the latter becoming the most-streamed song in the U.S. in 2023.  

His recent successes include I’m The Problem, his 2025 album, spending two consecutive months at No. 1. 

In 2023, Wallen was nominated in three major CMA Awards categories: Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Album of the Year for One Thing At A Time. However, he lost in all categories despite his record-breaking commercial success.   

His fans called out the association and expressed outrage over what they think is industry bias against Wallen. They expressed their disappointment all over social media, stating the Tennessee native was “robbed.” One fan also called out industry politics, tweeting, “I'm sorry the fact Morgan Wallen did not win album of the year after setting every record.. agendas are definitely being pushed #CMAawards”  

Wallen’s 2024 CMA Entertainer of the Year win seemed to be the turning point in his relationship with the association. However, Wallen did not attend the ceremony, and actor Jeff Bridges, who announced him as the winner (mispronouncing his name as “Morgan Waylon” or “Morgan Whalen”), accepted the award on his behalf.   

In a recent surprise appearance at Ella Langley’s show, Wallen expressed his feelings toward award shows, particularly the CMAs, and his indifference to industry validation. Langley, whose show at the Ryman Auditorium, just a few steps away from Bridgestone Arena where the CMA Awards take place, told the crowd that she’s been inviting Wallen to perform with her for quite some time now, and Wallen found the perfect opening to shade the association. He said, “It takes a lot more than an awards show to get me out to Broadway these days, I'll tell you that.”  

When he won 11 awards during the Billboard Music Awards, he also addressed his 2023 CMA losses: “Last award show I went to, we came home empty-handed. And this one, I don't have enough hands for them all.”  

His promotional single, “I’m A Little Crazy,” included in his fourth studio album, I’m the Problem, also contains lyrics about feeling unwelcome in the industry: “I'm a coyote in a field of wolves.”   

Wallen’s complicated relationship with award shows and the country music industry is a fascinating case study. For most artists, that kind of fallout would have been career-ending. But Wallen isn’t “most artists.” His fiercely loyal fanbase stood by him, helping him weather the storm when Nashville tried to shut its doors.