This Is The Worst Part of These Bailey Zimmerman Felony Charges
We always knew Bailey Zimmerman was a douchebag that was looking to take after Morgan Wallen. Now he’s got the felony charges to prove it.
On Monday (6-22), it was revealed that Bailey Zimmerman has a warrant out for his arrest in New Mexico for numerous infractions. Zimmerman was scheduled to appear on May 27th at the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, but ended up cancelling the appearance only 40 minutes before doors were set to open. According to the affidavit, Zimmerman was stumbling and acting belligerent during the sound check for the show, throwing microphones on the ground and knocking parts of the drum kit over.
Zimmerman allegedly stormed off stage multiple times before he left the resort’s amphitheater entirely and returned to the resort portion of the property. Then as he was leaving, he spit in the direction of one of the resort’s security officers, and complained the SUV he was being chauffeured in was white instead of black. By the time he made it to the resort, he was allegedly so sloshed, he lost his shoe, had an injured and bloody knee, and had to lean on someone to get down the hallway.
After the show got cancelled, the resort kicked Zimmerman out, but he refused to leave, and they ultimately had to call the police. When police arrived, Zimmerman finally got on a bus provided by the resort, and left the premises. But that’s not where the drama ended.
The next day when room service went to Baily Zimmerman’s room, they found it completely trashed. According to the resort, the damages total some $16,000, and include the TV, phone, coffee table, two chairs (along with two other chairs missing), a hole and other damage to walls, and stains in the carpet. Zimmerman also allegedly ran up a $400 bar tab, and never paid. When both the resort and police tried to contact Zimmerman and/or his management to resolve the matter privately, they didn’t respond. That is when charges were filed.
The official charges against Bailey Zimmerman are felony-level Criminal Damage to Property, as well as Falsely Obtaining Services for the bar tab, a misdemeanor. The State of New Mexico officially issued a warrant for Zimmerman’s arrest on June 18th.
Whenever an incident like this comes up with a modern-day country star, the peanut gallery immediately begins to pipe up about how “This is the first ‘country’ (or) ‘Outlaw’ thing he’s ever done” or “this ain’t nothin’ compared to Johnny Cash and ‘No Show’ George Jones.”
Two wrongs don’t make a right though, and it’s no longer the ’70s. And though folks love to misremember the past, nobody thought George Jones was being a “badass” when he was missing shows and being locked up in mental institutions at the time. “No Show Jones” was not a term of endearment, it was a warning to people to not buy tickets to his shows.
That brings us to perhaps the worst part of this Bailey Zimmerman incident. After all, nobody was hurt, a felony charge for trashing out a hotel room seems a bit steep (and will probably be plead down anyway), and no matter how terrible the music of Bailey Zimmerman is, you do hope the best for him as a person. You hope he gets his personal life and any addiction or mental health issues he might be suffering from in order.
But the worst part of this situation is that Bailey Zimmerman postponed multiple shows due to the incident, and one of the shows was postponed last minute under what many feel like now was a false pretense. 40 minutes before the show at the Sandia Resort, Zimmerman (or likely someone representing him) posted,
“Y’all know there’s nothing I love more than getting out on the road and playing these shows for you, so it’s so hard for me to have to say this, but I have to reschedule tonight’s (5/27) and Saturday’s (5/30) shows. I have not been feeling well and have tried to power through, but I’m not able to give you all the show you deserve. I hate letting y’all down and was really looking forward to these shows, but I gotta take care of myself so I can get back out there stronger.“
Sure, maybe Zimmerman saying he’d “not been feeling well” isn’t exactly a bold faced lie. But it’s also not exactly the truth either.
Ever since the pandemic, music show cancellations and postponements have been on the dramatic rise, including often for excuses of health-related issues. In some respects, it’s good that the music industry is no longer governed by “the show must go on” mentality that ultimately has resulted in many overdoses and deaths, and other catastrophic outcomes for performers pushed to the brink. But at the same time, it feels like the homeostasis that exists when artists also take responsibility for their actions, or try to be responsible to their fans and do every thing they can to be on stage is also not being honored.
Though there are many reasons ticket sales seem to be plummeting in the United States in the supposed “Blue Dot Fever” trend, one of them is due to so many events being cancelled, and last minute. While fewer shows are selling out, fans have the luxury of waiting until the last minute to purchase tickets, sometimes hoping for falling prices, or not having to deal with the refund process in the case of a cancellation.
One problem though is presales determine a lot when it comes to touring. If everyone is a walk-up customer, it makes tours look undersold, which can in turn create more cancellations. This is affecting artists from the arena and stadium level, all the way down to the listening room level. And even when performers say they’re “sick,” or their “van broke down,” the public has become increasingly distrusting, because sometimes the real reason is the performer went on a bender like Bailey Zimmerman, and couldn’t make the show, feigning illness to not face the public backlash.
But the truth often comes out. It has now for Bailey Zimmerman. And even though he deserves grace and forgiveness just like the rest of us, it’s easier to excuse the fall from grace from a daytime bender at a casino than it is the reason given about why the shows were postponed.
Trust between the music industry, touring artists, and the public is eroding. Ticketholders have been burned so many times, they’re becoming tiresome of the whole process during a time period where expendable income is drying up for many. That’s why it’s becoming easier and easier for consumers to choose to stay home, and harder for musicians to fill the requisite amount of seats to create profitable tours.
Performer River Shook just had to cancel the first two shows for their upcoming tour due to low ticket sales. “I could give you a bulls-it reason about my van breaking down or whatever, but I’m not going to start lying to y’all now,” River said in an Instagram post. “This is an industry wide problem right now. All kinds of artists at all different levels are having to cancel shows.”
Touring is especially difficult right now with elevated gas prices and everyone except those in the top tier of the economy struggling. But it’s only going to become more difficult if artists and the industry don’t start being honest and telling the truth to the public. That credibility is critical to the live music ecosystem continuing to function.
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June 23, 2026 @ 7:55 am
Just look at this a**hole.
June 23, 2026 @ 7:57 am
He is not the first and will not be the last. He clearly has a problem. Not an excuse in the past or now. People pay a lot of money for tickets and that is only part of the cost for many. Travel and hotel costs are not always refundable. I know I have recently been caught by a cancellation. It does make one less willing to book in advance,
June 23, 2026 @ 8:05 am
Country fans are often from the country. That means travel expenses are often involved when they go to see artists in the big city. This means cancellations aren’t a zero sum game just because you get a refund.
June 23, 2026 @ 8:08 am
As usual, Trigger is spot on.
June 23, 2026 @ 8:14 am
LGBTQ acts will invariably have low ticket sales in more conservative regions.
River Shook, Sarah, or whatever “they” call themselves should consider sticking to “Pride” events where at least ticket sales are guaranteed, for now.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:09 am
If you think Nashville is a more “conservative region,” clearly you’ve never been there.
Did Post Malone and Jelly Roll have to cancel the first leg of their stadium tour because they’re LGBTQ?
June 23, 2026 @ 8:15 am
I will say I saw him at the benefit concert for hurricane relief in North Carolina in 2024. Everyone I went with was shocked by how bad his performance was including our friends who like his kind of music. He definitely appeared messed up on something on stage a big part of why he was so bad. He was behaving in a bizarre manner.
June 23, 2026 @ 8:21 am
Could it be in the words from his song…this is where it ends?
June 23, 2026 @ 8:24 am
Yeah I can understand being too drunk and tired to “lip-sync” with the pre-recorded tracks. It’s not like his current level of fame isn’t riding a brief high…
What I find absolutely hilarious is how Ella Langley has shown more outlaw clout than her peers by refusing live pitch correction. I don’t know why this clip of her talking about on Bobby Bones hasn’t gained more traction. She talks about how some other artist brought the point up to her about “tuning” her voice in live shows and taking them to the next level and how everyone does it (major artists), and she told that artist that she is refusing to “tune” her vocals live. Ok this isn’t Oliver Anthony who has always been an outsider saying this – Ella Langley said this.
June 23, 2026 @ 8:26 am
“After all, nobody was hurt, a felony charge for trashing out a hotel room seems a bit steep”
Stop, really.
NOT charging with a felony would be incredible lenient and indicative that this sort of behavior is tolerated.
He didn’t just trash a hotel room. He’s accused of being severely disorderly, even spitting at employees who were doing their jobs, walking out on bills, etc.
Whether the prosecutor should offer to plead it down to misdemeanors in a deal where Zimmerman agrees to meet a whole bunch of conditions; i.e. be put on probation, write apologize to all the victims, pay for all the damages that he caused, enter a treatment program; agree not to use drugs or alcohol for a period, face testing; agree not to commit any new crimes during the period, or it goes back to a felony–that’s for another day.
June 23, 2026 @ 8:58 am
Wasn’t aware there is a legal distintion between ‘disorderly’ and ‘severely disorderly’ lol… It’s true, no one was hurt. The only reason it’s a felony charge is because of the dollar amount of the damages. That cost is going to be covered anyway which is why the charges will be dropped completely. Spitting in the direction of someone is not any kind of crime. (spitting on someone isn’t felony assault) Would you want him arrested on a misdemeanour charge for sticking his tongue out at someone?
June 23, 2026 @ 9:14 am
If Bailey had spit on a security guard, I would be in favor of simple assault charges against him. But he didn’t, and that has nothing to do with the felony charge. And usually, simple assault charges are misdemeanors.
This might just be one of my pet issues, but I don’t see the point in charging people with felonies just to plead them down. This is what creates inequity in the system. Bailey can afford a big lawyer that can get the charges dropped. Someone who doesn’t have that often has to face the full charges and plead guilty.
Also important to note that it appears they didn’t want to charge Bailey Zimmerman at all. But when he and his management wouldn’t answer the police who just wanted him to pay his bar tab and compensate the hotel, it became a legal matter. Really bad ball drop by whoever is managing this artist.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:27 am
The legal system also treats regular people the same way if they don’t have a record. Even speaking anecdotally when I was 20 I was involved with a few friends in accidentally burning down a porto potty. I was the first person questioned by the police a week later and I was told they knocked it down from arson but because of the dollar amount it was considered class D criminal mischief. Because we paid person who owned the porto potty charges were never pursued even though the police department could have pursued charges on their own. The legal system is usually clogged up with other more important cases.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:10 am
bAld faced. Not bold faced.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:11 am
I’ve heard the name but never seen him before today. Three key takeaways:
1. BZ looks like he once bought whippets off Craigslist, but was confused when the guy showed up with dogs.
2. BZ looks like the living embodiment of a “NO RAGERTS” tattoo.
3. BZ definitely has a vape pen with a picture of Death flipping the bird on it.
That’s it.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:14 am
Hey Trig,
are you absolutely sure the arrest warrant for Zimmermann wasn’t issued because of his incredibly bad music? That’s a far worse crime than thrashing a hotel room.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:27 am
I don’t see live music because the tickets cost too much, the concessions cost to much, and the experience is often as tedious as it is fun (parking, lines, time between sets, etc.). It’s far more surprising to me that they sell as many tickets as they do.
June 23, 2026 @ 9:30 am
Baseball games are the same way.