Twitter users erupted with anger when Morgan Wallen took the stage to perform live at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night.
Wallen was highly scrutinized after a video surfaced in February 2021 that showed him slinging profanities and using the “N” word after a night of drinking in Nashville, according to TMZ. Just a year later, he was not only invited to attend the Billboard Music Awards but was also one of the evening’s featured performers, a move that wasn’t widely accepted on Twitter.
This gesture of apparent acceptance caused a stir on social media, as many fans aired their grievances and claimed Wallen got a free pass after a display of alleged racist behavior.
He needs to rot in PRISON!!!!!
— Lucinda Willcox, Ukrainian trans lesbian 🇺🇦 (@WillcoxLucinda) May 16, 2022
Fans across the globe were unimpressed when it was revealed that Wallen freely used racially charged language in the video that circulated on the internet. In spite of the fact that this situation transpired just over a year ago, it appears the country star has not quite been forgiven by those who found his behavior to be offensive.
Online commentary ignited when Wallen appeared in the middle of the Billboard stage to perform “Don’t Think Jesus,” and “Wasted on You,” with one Twitter user saying, “That was tasteless off the Billboard awards show.”
Another user wrote, “I mean he straight up called someone a n word hard r.”
Morgan Wallen’s Billboard Music Awards 2022 showcase slammed as ‘racist’ https://t.co/thzub0lhx1 pic.twitter.com/tpbjWLrGPw
— New York Post (@nypost) May 16, 2022
One person went so far as to write, “He needs to rot in PRISON!!!!!”
“Another award show, another excuse for a joke,” one user posted. Another Twitter user wrote the message, “Racism is racism. Clean yo act up.”
However, other users spoke out on Wallen’s behalf, citing Diddy’s message of love and forgiveness that he shared with the audience during his opening monologue.
“People need to get over themselves. This ‘I can use this word and you can’t’ is BS. No one should say that word but my goodness there are rappers with literal criminal rap sheets performing but someone who uses a word and not in a pejorative way? STOP IT PEOPLE,” one user wrote in a tweet.
Wallen also took the stage to accept the award for top country male artist, according to People.