Morgan Wallen banned from appearing at CMA Awards despite album of the year nomination
Morgan Wallen suspended by label after using racial slur
The Academy of Country Music said it will “halt” Morgan Wallen’s eligibility at this year’s awards show.
USA TODAY, USA TODAY
For possibly the first time in the CMA Awards’ 55-year history, one of its nominees is expressly not invited to the party: Morgan Wallen.
The Country Music Association “will not be inviting Morgan Wallen to appear” at the November ceremony, a CMA spokesperson confirmed with USA TODAY Network.
The decision is yet another consequence for the 28-year-old’s actions at the start of the year, when he was caught on video using a racial slur outside of his Nashville home.
Despite this stance, one of the night’s top prizes could still go to Wallen. He earned one nomination this year for his “Dangerous: The Double Album,” which is up for album of the year.
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In May, the CMA’s board of directors decided to remove him from the artist-only Entertainer and Vocalist ballots, while allowing him to still be nominated for awards recognizing albums, songs, music videos and other works, “so as to not limit the opportunity for other credited collaborators.”
The Album of the Year nod is Wallen’s first nomination at any major country awards show this year. The Academy of Country Music and CMT both removed him from the ballots of their 2021 awards shows.
More: Morgan Wallen receives CMA nomination for Album of the Year
A representative for Wallen and his label, Big Loud Records, declined to comment.
Wallen returned with his first public concert of the year last month, raising $725,000 for victims of recent floods and severe storms in Humphreys County, Tennessee. He has five concerts — four of which are already sold out — booked in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia in the coming weeks.
The 55th Annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 10 on ABC.
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