For me, when I stopped drinking for good, it took me a few years of sobriety to really understand how American culture is very alcohol-intensive. From the advertising to the representation of alcohol and drinking in films and television to the prevalent themes of alcohol and drinking in music, we’re a very boozy culture here in America. This is especially true in country music, where booze is right up there with God, America and infidelity as “music subjects.” All of which to say, country music star Morgan Wallen is an alcoholic but I guess we have to pussyfoot around that fact. Wallen was just arrested yet again, this time for getting sh-tfaced and throwing a chair off the roof of a Nashville bar. People Magazine has an exclusive about how Morgan is a good guy (say that to the chair) but he just has some alcohol issues.
Morgan Wallen’s issues with alcohol have again come to the forefront with his latest arrest. Though the country star wasn’t expected at Eric Church’s newly opened Chief’s on Sunday night, Wallen, 30, quickly made himself known shortly after he arrived at the bar, allegedly throwing a chair from the six-story high Nashville rooftop on April 7. The chair landed next to a police cruiser on Broadway, PEOPLE confirms, and officers soon headed into the venue to apprehend the culprit.
“Morgan is generally a nice, fun person to hang out with, but when he gets going he doesn’t know when to stop,” a source tells PEOPLE. “Morgan and alcohol is a problem and it’s been a problem that keeps coming back around.”
Wallen was previously arrested on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges in 2020; he issued a public apology and the charges were eventually dropped. In 2021, he spent 30 days in treatment after he was captured on video saying the N-word while drunk on a night out with friends. Following the incident, the “Whiskey Glasses” artist stepped away from alcohol for a time.
The singer-songwriter has often addressed his drinking in his music, most recently on “Born with a Beer in My Hand.” “Everybody says it’s gonna be the death of me / But these days I’m livin’ on the side of alive / Just ’cause I smile through my sobriеty / Don’t mean it ain’t chillin’ in the back of my mind / I ain’t sayin’ I swore it off for good / I’m just sayin’ I’m doin’ thе best I can / But what do you expect from a redneck? / Hell, I was born with a beer in my hand.”
Wallen — who is expected to open his own spot, called This Bar, in Nashville later this year — was arrested and charged with three counts of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE, and faced a $15,250 bond.
“He is cooperating fully with authorities,” Wallen’s attorney Worrick Robinson said in a statement on April 8.
I remember the late Robin Williams talking about how many times he turned over a new leaf, stopped drinking, went to an AA meeting and then got drunk soon after. While I have compassion for every person who has issues with alcohol, I don’t think it’s a good sign that A) Wallen was sober for a while and now he’s off the wagon, B) he’s about to open up his own bar, C) he’s the kind of guy who throws heavy objects around when he’s drunk. Right now we can say these things because he hasn’t physically hurt anyone (that we know of). But this has the potential to get a lot worse.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA – SEPTEMBER 23: Morgan Wallen poses in the press room at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Night 1 held at the T-Mobile Arena on September 23, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.,Image: 725774165, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Morgan Wallen, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA – SEPTEMBER 23: Morgan Wallen poses in the press room at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Night 1 held at the T-Mobile Arena on September 23, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.,Image: 725774219, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Morgan Wallen, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA – SEPTEMBER 23: Morgan Wallen poses in the press room at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Night 1 held at the T-Mobile Arena on September 23, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.,Image: 725774231, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Morgan Wallen, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
- West Palm Beach, FL – Morgan Wallen performs at The Coral Sky Amphitheater. Pictured: Morgan Wallen BACKGRID USA 14 OCTOBER 2017 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / UK: +44 208 344 2007 / *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- West Palm Beach, FL – Morgan Wallen performs at The Coral Sky Amphitheater. Pictured: Morgan Wallen BACKGRID USA 14 OCTOBER 2017 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / UK: +44 208 344 2007 / *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*