Despite breaking a plethora of records and winning CMA Entertainer of the Year throughout the year, 2024 has not come without some controversies for Morgan Wallen. After his arrest in April outside of Eric Church’s Nashville Bar, Chief’s, Wallen recently pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment without a weapon.
Wallen’s arrest also played a key role in setbacks surrounding the opening of his Nashville venue, This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen, which included the denial of an additional 20-foot sign bearing Wallen’s name over the front entrance.
In case you forgot about the controversy around This Bar’s sign, back in May during its opening, the Nashville Metro Council infamously rejected the construction of the aforementioned sign, voting 30-3 to deny the “Last Night” singer’s request.
Though the sign itself did not violate any zoning regulations, many 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.
Metro Councilmember Jordan Huffman had some extremely strong words for Wallen and his past controversies.
“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.”
At-large Councilmember, Delishia Porterfield, also cited his past controversies as a reason to deny Wallen’s name being on This Bar’s sign.
“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.”
Porterfield also referenced Jason Aldean’s “Try That In a Small Town” in a now-deleted tweet discussing Wallen’s initial rejection.
“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.”
Finally, Councilmember Sherri Weiner added:
“I don’t know how we stand here and file resolutions that speak on inclusion and respect for other people. And out of respect for everyone in this room and for everyone in this city, I have to vote no.”
Yesterday, however, Wallen received a second chance to erect the sign outside of This Bar and succeeded with the Nashville council voting 30-1 in favor of approving its construction and installation with an additional six members abstaining and three being absent from the hearing. As noted by The Tennessean, the only council member to vote against the construction of the sign was none other than the aforementioned Delishia Porterfield.
As of now, there is no set timeframe for the installation of the sign; however, it’s safe to assume Wallen and partner, TC Restaurant Group, will act quickly given that This Bar has been without the sign for nearly seven months since its opening.