Earlier this morning, Nashville Metro council members voted 30-3 to deny the “aerial encroachment” construction of a 20-foot sign bearing Wallen’s name above the front entrance of his new bar, located at 107 4th Ave North on Broadway.
Although it was reported by Fox 17 in Nashville that there was technically nothing wrong with the sign legally, as it meets all zoning regulations, several council members cited Wallen’s past history of arrests, primarily his recent April arrest after throwing a chair off of Eric Church’s rooftop bar Chief’s.
“I don’t want to see a billboard up with a name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs.”
Delishia Porterfield
She even bragged about it on Twitter after the vote took place, using lyrics from Jason Aldean’s No. 1 hit, “Try That In A Small Town,” to celebrate their “win.”
We just voted down a resolution allowing an Aerial Encroachment with Morgan Wallen's name on it. Yes THAT Morgan Wallen. The one who throws chairs & uses racial slurs.
Nope! No thank you.
Try that in a small town…. 🤷🏽♀️ better yet….don't try it all.https://t.co/O1TfS3ygTw pic.twitter.com/cUkoMRGf4D— Delishia Danielle Porterfield (@DelishiaForNash) May 22, 2024
But it was council member Jordan Huffman who most Wallen fans are angry with, seemingly believing that he went to far with his words after thirty of its members appeared to vote based on their emotion and/or dislike for the 31 year-old country star:
“He gives all of us a bad name. His comments are hateful, his actions are harmful and he don’t belong in this town as far as I’m concerned. I’m tired of this city bending over to just make anybody happy that makes a comment that they want to. We continue to go down this road.”
After the meeting, we posted Huffman’s quote to our Instagram account, tagging the councilman – which quickly prompted him to turn off his comments on the majority of his posts. However, hours later, Morgan Wallen threw shade at Huffman with a simple story to his IG account, showing a sold out stadium crowd at one of his concerts in the same city the councilman told him he “don’t belong in.”
Whether you hate Morgan or love him, his bar is still opening and he’s still the biggest country artist in the world right now. I highly doubt he’s concerned with a neon sign being rejected over the entrance of his Bar & Tennessee Kitchen.