AMAs Ban Country Music’s Morgan Wallen Until He Can Prove Himself A Worthy ‘Ally’ To The ‘Black Community’

The American Music Awards put out a statement earlier this week saying that country music star Morgan Wallen is barred from inclusion in the 2021 AMAs in any way due to his past “conduct.” The “More Than My Hometown” artist, still haunted by his use of a racial slur earlier this year, was nominated in two categories which he could still win despite the AMA’s decision not to recognize him.

Backstory: Racial Slur Gets Chart-Topping Country Music Star Morgan Wallen Banned From Radio

Morgan Wallen Banned From Attending AMAs Despite Being Nominated

“Morgan Wallen is a nominee this year based on charting,” reads a statement from MRC Live & Alternative, which is producing the AMAs. “As his conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting).”

The statement goes on to imply that while there’s a chance they’ll change their mind, they’re still not satisfied that he’s done enough to atone for being caught using a racial in February.

“We plan to evaluate his progress in doing meaningful work as an ally to the Black community and will consider his participation in future shows,” the statement added, according to Variety.

AMAs Can’t Strip His Nominations

The statement went on to attempt to make excuses as to why the organization does not feel that there is any way to leave Wallen out of the nominations that he’s earned fair and square. 

“Unique among awards shows, American Music Awards (AMA) nominees are determined by performance on the Billboard Charts and are not chosen by a voting committee or membership organization,” the statement read. “AMA nominees are based on key fan interactions with music (including streaming, album sales, song sales, radio airplay, social engagement), tracked by Billboard and its data partner MRC Data.”

“The AMA winners are voted entirely by fans,” the statement explained, opening the door for a potential double win for Wallen.

This would come as no surprise, given the fact that he had the most popular album of the year in any genre, despite his racial slur scandal.

While the radically liberal music world has done everything they can to shame him, their efforts have done virtually nothing to impact his popularity among the millions of fans who love his music. 

Related: Morgan Wallen Wins Top Country Awards At BMAs Despite Being Banned From Attending

Not The First Time Morgan Wallen Banned From Award Show

Earlier this year, the 28-year-old country artist was deemed ineligible for two country music awards show. Wallen was barred from attending the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in the spring and CMT Music Awards over the summer.

Though Morgan Wallen was banned from attending the Billboard Music Awards in May, he walked away having won three out of the six categories for which he was nominated.

The Billboard Music Awards are data-driven and so Wallen’s critics could do nothing to to stop him from winning. Given the AMAs are similarly based on key fan interactions, it’s possible Wallen could walk away with more wins.

In this year’s AMAs, Morgan Wallen is up against Chris Stapleton, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, and Luke Combs for Favorite Male Country Artist. His Dangerous: The Double Album is also up for Favorite Country Album.

From the moment video of him using a racial slur broke, Morgan Wallen has been nothing but apologetic.

The young singer put himself into rehab and then donated proceeds from his record sales to charities like the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC).

Clearly that wasn’t enough as the entertainment world continues to blacklist him. I guess the world will have to wait to find out what the AMAs deem worthiness of an “ally”.

You can watch the music video for Morgan Wallen’s first chart topper “Whiskey Glasses” below.