Morgan Wallen recently sat down with Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan for his first interview after being captured on camera using a racial slur.
The exclusive, pre-taped interview aired on Friday, July 23, and featured Wallen opening up about his ignorance surrounding the n-word, revealing he checked himself into rehab in the days after the video surfaced and sharing how he and his team donated $500,000 in proceeds from his latest album to various Black organizations.
Hours after the televised interview aired across the U.S., GMA released an additional clip of the interview, featuring more of Wallen and Strahan’s conversation.
The new portion of the interview finds the singer/songwriter saying he takes “complete responsibility and accountability” for his actions and asking others not to follow his lead.
“What do you wanna to say to anyone who heard you say this word, especially someone with your influence,” Strahan asks in the clip.
“I said this word outta ignorance,” Wallen says. “I don’t, because I said it, it doesn’t mean that I think you should follow my lead, by any means. And I hope that all my fans, and whoever thinks that I’m someone to look up to, that they know that that’s not in my heart and that’s not something that I condone or that I think that they should be doing either. I’ve told a lot of people sorry to their face. But I kinda just wanted to come tell my story and let people know kinda who I am and how much I regret the mistake I made. I think I was just ignorant about it.”
He continues, “I don’t think that I ever really thought through it, you know. I don’t think I sat down and was, like ‘Hey, is this right or is this wrong?’ It was just my thinkin’ was off. I was flawed in that, and just the whole situation was flawed for me. And I’ll take complete responsibility and accountability for it.”
In the new clip, which can be viewed above, Wallen speaks about relocating after he and his family received numerous threats after his use of the n-word.
The initial, televised portion of Wallen and Strahan’s conversation can be viewed below.
The interview came nearly six months after TMZ obtained the video of Wallen using the racial slur outside his home.
According to the singer, in the months since the video surfaced online, he’s taken time to meet with various Black organizations and Black music industry leaders, including BMAC (Black Music Action Coalition), Kevin Liles, CEO of 300 Entertainment (label home to Megan Thee Stallion), Eric Hutcherson, Executive Vice President and Chief People and Inclusion Officer at Universal Music Group (UMG) and Gospel singer BeBe Winans.
Although his music was initially pulled from streaming platforms and various radio stations across the country, its recently been reinstated to various platforms. According to Billboard, his song “Sand In My Boots” recently debuted on the Country Airplay chart at No.56, marking Wallen’s first time on the chart since the chart dated February 6.
