Yahoo Finance Morgan Wallen Breaks Months of Silence After Using Racial Slur, Claims He 'Really Worked' on Himself
Jason Kempin/ACMA2020/Getty Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen is speaking directly to his fans.
On Tuesday, the country singer — who stepped away from the spotlight in early February after he was filmed saying the N-word — shared a handwritten letter about the self-reflection he's had over the past several months, and claiming that he has "really worked" on himself.
The 27-year-old also announced that he will not be performing at previously scheduled tour dates to spend "valuable" time away from the spotlight.
Wallen started the letter by thanking his fans for supporting him and that he's "felt a lot of love lately." "I know my corner hasn't been the most popular one to stand in recently, but many of you did anyway," he admitted.
The singer than spoke about feeling "fulfilled" with the creation of his Dangerous album, saying he was grateful that the fans liked and streamed it too. "I had to write some of these songs to get them off my heart, so to see them landing in yours makes me feel connected to y'all," he wrote.
Wallen described 2020 as a "tough year" — in May 2020, he was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges and in September, he was disinvited from Saturday Night Live after partying without social distancing just days before his performance — and admitted that he had "made some mistakes."
"I'm figuring those out and I apologized because I was truly sorry and have been making my amends," he wrote, without specifying what amends had been made.
"I wanted to let you guys know that I've taken a couple months away and feel like I've really worked on myself," he wrote. "I'm proud of the work I've put in and in many ways thankful to have had the time to do it. I've needed this time off."
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Although it's unclear what Wallen did to work on himself, the NAACP reached out to Wallen in February to speak to him about the "hurtful" implications of the N-word. (He previously said he had "accepted some invitations ... to engage in some very real and honest conversations" and that "they offered me grace, and they also paired that with an offer to learn and to grow.")
The singer added that he feels that he has grown from when he arrived in Nashville at 22 and that he hopes to continue to grow by the time he's 32.
"I will always strive to be better," he wrote. "Not only has this time revealed to me the ways in which I want to improve but it's also reminded me that I am still very proud of who I am and the man I am becoming."
"I found this time away to be very valuable to me in many ways, but I feel like I need a little more of it and therefore will not be performing tour dates this summer," Wallen wrote, before encouraging fans to still attend the scheduled concerts.
Jason Kempin/Getty Morgan Wallen
Wallen ended the note by saying he's looking forward to giving fans "what you deserve."
"My story is far from over and getting back out to see y'all is all I can think about," he wrote. "So just know you'll be seeing me sooner than later."
The handwritten note from Wallen comes two months after he was filmed using a racial slur outside of his home. The singer later apologized for his actions, before he was dropped by his label and made ineligible for an ACM Award this year.
In mid-February he posted a video asking fans to not defend him and accepted "any penalties I'm facing."
"I let so many people down," he said then. "I let my parents down and they're the furthest thing from ... the person in that video. I let my son down, and I'm not okay with that."
