Nashville Council Votes Against Morgan Wallen's Bar Sign, Calls Him 'Hateful' and 'Harmful'

Morgan Wallen's bar and eatery, This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen, which is set to open this Memorial Day weekend, caught a harsh blow from the Nashville Metro Council.

In an astounding 30-3 vote, the Metro Council decided to not allow Wallen to hang a 20-foot sign off of the building that shows his name. The sign in question features the word "WALLEN" written vertically in all capital letters with "MORGAN" and "This Bar" written in smaller text above and below, respectively.

The council pointed to several controversial incidents involving Wallen as their reasoning for nixing the sign.

At-large Council member Delishia Porterfield said that she doesn't "want to see a billboard up with the name of a person who's throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs."

Wallen was arrested in April on three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct after he threw a chair off of the sixth floor of the popular bar, Chief's. The Lower Broadway eatery is owned by country singer Eric Church.

Wallen later skipped out on a court date, allowing his attorney, Worrick Robinson, to appear on his behalf. Robinson referred to Wallen's chair-throwing as a "lesson in life" and said that the country star had "done what I think we would expect any good person to do when there's something such as this happens," in the wake of the arrest.

The "Last Night" singer apologized on X, writing

"I didn't feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I've touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief's. I'm not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility."

His next court date is Aug.15.

Wallen was also caught on video using the N-word after a "72 hour bender" in 2021.

The Nashville Metro Council decided that Wallen was a poor representation of the city.

"Mr. Wallen is a fellow East Tennessean. He gives all of us a bad name," said Jordan Huffman, a council member, "His comments are hateful; his actions are harmful."

Jacob Kupin, a council member who voted in favor of hanging Wallen's sign, said that he did not want to rush the process of approving the sign, saying he didn't want to "let this individual just slide through quietly."

"To me, it's important to remind those watching at home, the public, whether you're a celebrity or someone coming to our town or someone who lives here, that downtown needs to be a safe place," said Kupin.

He referred to Wallen as someone who has "not been a good actor downtown." However, he conceded that TC Restaurant Group, which owns This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen, "has been really a good partner in everything going on downtown," prompting his to vote in favor of Wallen's sign.

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Morgan Wallen