Morgan Wallen sentenced as part of plea deal in Nashville chair-tossing incident
Morgan Wallen is going to serve time in Tennessee. But not exactly behind bars — and definitely not in a bar.
The country singer entered a conditional plea Thursday in Davidson County Circuit Court to two misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment after an April incident where he was arrested on suspicion of throwing a chair from six floors up in downtown Nashville.
Judge Cynthia C. Chappell sentenced Wallen to seven days’ incarceration at a DUI Education Center, two years’ probation, a $350 fine and payment of court fees, his lawyer told The Times.
A backlash is ballooning against Morgan Wallen after the popular country music artist was recorded shouting a racist slur outside his Nashville home.
The conditional plea means that “upon the successful completion of his probation, the charges will be eligible for dismissal and expungement,” his attorney Worrick Robinson IV said in a statement Thursday.
“Mr. Wallen has cooperated fully with authorities throughout these last eight months, directly communicating and apologizing to all involved,” Robinson said. “Mr. Wallen remains committed to making a positive impact through his music and foundation.”
The chair that Wallen threw from the sixth floor of Chief’s Bar, which is co-owned by country singer Eric Church, landed within feet of two Metro Nashville Police officers, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Associated Press. Witnesses told the officers they saw Wallen pick up the chair, toss it and then laugh about it.
Country star Morgan Wallen says he accepts responsibility after a chair-throwing incident at a bar in Nashville resulted in his arrest earlier this month.
Wallen was originally charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, but ultimately plead to the reduced charges. It was unclear whether Wallen was intoxicated when he threw the chair.
“I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks,” the 30-year-old wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the arrest. “I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility. I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe.”
Wallen, who last month was named 2024 entertainer of the year at the Country Music Assn. Awards, previously invoked a 72-hour bender in explaining a career-jarring 2021 incident where he was caught on video shouting a racial slur at a friend. Despite the success of his 30-song “Dangerous” double-album, he was pulled from major radio networks, from streaming services’ playlists and from TV network CMT; disqualified from the Academy of Country Music’s 2021 awards; and “suspended” by his record label.
Before that, in 2020, the former contestant on “The Voice” was detained and ultimately charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after being kicked out of Kid Rock’s honky-tonk in downtown Nashville and causing a stir on the street.
Morgan Wallen’s plan for a shiny sign on his downtown Nashville bar is nixed over his arrest for chucking a chair off the rooftop of another country star’s bar.
“After a couple bar stops, we were horse-playing with each other,” Wallen tweeted at the time, per People. “We didn’t mean any harm, and we want to say sorry to any bar staff or anyone that was affected.”
With fan support, and after a few months of working on himself and making amends, he made a major comeback from cancellation. The incident, however, remained a stain on the singer‘s reputation, with the Nashville Metro Council in May rejecting a neon sign that was suppose to grace Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen for what was to be a Memorial Day weekend opening.
“I don’t want to see a billboard up with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs,” Delishia Porterfield, council member at large, said during the council meeting where the sign was considered. This Bar finally opened June 1, a few days late.
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