Morgan Wallen has revealed that he checked himself into a rehab facility following backlash from videos of him hurling a racial slur around after a night out in Nashville this year.
The country music star was subsequently pulled from radio, suspended by his label, dropped by his agency and disqualified from eligibility at multiple country music award shows.
He later issued an apology admitting he made the offensive comment during a 72-hour bender but was working on being sober and hoping to turn his life around. In an interview with "Good Morning America," which aired on Friday, Wallen explained that after the incident he made the choice to go to rehab.
"For 30 days, I spent some time out in San Diego, California — you know, just tryin' to figure it out ... why am I acting this way? Do I have an alcohol problem? Do I have a deeper issue?" he shared.
Following the scandal, it appeared as if Wallen's career was over but instead he continued to dominate the charts and receive widespread support from his fans.
In an apology video released earlier this year, Wallen urged them not to support him, stating that he took ownership for his actions and appreciated the penalties he was facing.
"The time of my return is solely on me and the work I put in," he said, and yet sales for his second album, "Dangerous: The Double Album," increased dramatically amid the scandal. It spent 10 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and is No. 1 on Billboard's top country albums chart after 24 weeks in the spot.
Wallen explained that the album was already doing well before the incident, but his team noticed a spike in sales after it occurred.
"So we tried to calculate what the number of — how much it actually spiked from this incident," he said. "We got to a number somewhere around $500,000, and we decided to donate that money to some organizations — BMAC being the first one," he continued.
In his apology video, Wallen explained that he had met with leaders from various Black organizations to engage in "some very real and honest conversations."
He admitted to being "nervous" to hold such conversations because of his past behavior.
"They had every right to step on my neck … to not show me any grace, but they did the exact opposite. They offered me grace and also paired that with an offer to learn and grow," he said. "That kindness really inspired me to dig deeper on how to do something about this."
Wallen's speaking out has been met with skepticism, and while he admitted he was not going to make everyone happy, he was doing his best.
"I can only come to tell my truth, and — and that's all I know to do," he said.
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