Morgan Wallen admits he has used the N-word more than once “around a certain group of friends.”
In February, the country singer was suspended from his label and taken off playlists after he was caught on video referring to someone as a “p***y-a** n****r.” Wallen told TMZ at the time he was “embarrassed and sorry” about using an “unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back.”
The 28-year-old singer added: “There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever.”
But, in an interview on Friday’s GMA, Wallen said he had used the slur before. “I wouldn’t say frequently. No, no, not frequently,” he said. “It was just around this certain group of friends.”
Wallen said he was “clearly drunk” in the video that TMZ posted. “In our minds, it’s playful, you know? I don’t know if that sounds ignorant, but that’s really where it came from,” he said. “It’s wrong. … I didn’t mean it in any derogatory manner at all.”
Shortly after the video surfaced, Wallen took to social media to promise he will “learn and grow” and “keep searching for ways to become the example instead of being made one.”
He told GMA he has spent his time “just trying to figure it out” in California. He also said he donated around $500,000 U.S. to several Black-focused organizations.