Jimmie Allen Says Some Critics of Morgan Wallen Exploiting Incident
Broken Bow artist Jimmie Allen is continuing to be one of the few artists in mainstream country who is willing to speak out and stick up for Morgan Wallen in the aftermath of Wallen getting caught on camera saying the N-word on February 2nd.
Though Allan is quick to point out what Morgan did and said was wrong and he should face consequences, he is also one of the few people saying he also deserves forgiveness, and trying to give context to the incident as opposed to attempting to dramaticize it, incite people, make it about himself, or use it to paint the entirety of country music as racist.
Speaking to Bobby Bones on his Bobbycast podcast on March 12th, Jimmie Allan said what many are others are thinking about the Morgan Wallen situation as the parade of think pieces, criticism, and social media larping about the incident continues unabated, and likely continues to fuel a pro-Morgan Wallen backlash that has put Morgan’s current album Dangerous at the top of the all genre album charts for now a 9th week—a record for a country release.
When Jimmie Allen was asked by Bobby Bones if he was offended by Morgan Wallen’s words, he responded, “No. The reason why—and this is from me being black, talking to a bunch of black people—[is] first of all, the way he said it. He didn’t use the -er. So that’s why a lot of black people, we laughed at it. It was like, ‘Oh ok, well he said it right.’”
While many outlets are misreporting that Wallen did say the N-word with the harder “-er” ending, many are also failing to mention that he did not use it it anger towards a black individual, but in jest to a white friend. The specific phrase he used is also the title to numerous hip-hop songs, and a lyric from many more.
“True, you shouldn’t say it,” Jimmie Allan continues. “But at the same time, just because I don’t agree with what he said doesn’t mean I should banish him.”
What has offended Jimmie Allen is the white people who’ve chosen to use the incident to act offended, or make it about themselves to bolster their social media clout, and/or to further an agenda less tied to racism, and more tied to exploiting the incident to gain ground in the culture war.
“That’s really kind of rubbed me the wrong way a lot of times, where I saw white people tweeting ‘I’m so offended. I can’t believe that you would do this. I’m so hurt.’ You’re not hurt … Now if people would have said ‘I don’t agree with this. He shouldn’t have used that. It’s a wrong word to use,’ that’s one thing. But when people start to use words like ‘offended’ … my grandfather told me at a young age when someone says something to someone else not directed at you that doesn’t affect you, the only way you can become offended is if you are so self-absorbed and you make something about you that’s not about you.”
It’s probably not fair to characterize that some of the white people that saw the Morgan Wallen video were not truly offended, if not for themselves, then for the black community. But undoubtedly, some inside and outside the country music community—including some media members and performers—have used the Morgan Wallen incident to opportunistically draw attention and make it about themselves.
“The extra stuff… I feel like people just want to be seen,” says Jimmie Allen. “I feel like sometimes people just want to be in the spotlight, you know what I mean? With the extra hurt. A lot of times it’s just nonsense to where people want to look cool on social media.“
Allen also spoke specifically about the drama surrounding Blackout Tuesday on June 2nd of 2020, and how some artists were criticized for not posting black squares on social media, while others were praised for it, including the controversial “accountability” spreadsheet that logged artists that did and did not participate, including artists who clearly support the black community such as Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, but didn’t post a black square.
“I know people that didn’t post the black square, whatever, that do stuff for black communities all the time and I know a lot of people who just posted it cause they don’t want to look racist but they’re doing nothing. Racism isn’t about what you post on your social media for the world to see, it’s about who you actually are, what you’re actually doing.”
Jimmie Allen received criticism from many in the days after the initial incident with Morgan Wallen after he pointed out it was more white people being offended than black people, and saying that Morgan Wallen deserved forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is more powerful than abandonment. Our job as humans is to help each other be the best version of themselves,” Allen said in a tweet. “It’s not about what is easiest….it’s about what is right. In order to receive forgiveness, we must give forgiveness.”
Jimmie Allen also revealed in the interview with Bobby Bones that in the aftermath of the N-word incident, he talked to Morgan Wallen every day, including telling him why what he did was wrong. Morgan Wallen has apologized, and asked his fans to not defend his actions, and has been out of the public eye since it happened.
READ: Morgan Wallen Backlash Not Just Ineffective, It’s Counter-Productive
March 17, 2021 @ 8:54 am
He’s right. Too many white folks are trying to just use this to their own advantage and couldn’t care less about minorities who might actually be offended by this. The constant attacks against Morgan Wallen are keeping him in the news cycle and most likely just making more people people sympathetic to him.
March 17, 2021 @ 9:09 am
What Jimmie Allen says is plain common sense. I don’t condone Morgan’s use of the word and it is not an excuse he was drunk but the circumstances of its use could have been far worse.
March 17, 2021 @ 9:20 am
Everything Jimmie Allen said was spot on. Therr are way too many white people these days and times that like to tell black people how/why they should be offended instead of actually listening to what they are saying. A lot of them do this for their own ego/clout, its pretty ridiculous
March 17, 2021 @ 12:41 pm
I’ve come across these types of people a lot over the last 9 months even though it’s not related to race still kinda similar
March 17, 2021 @ 9:38 am
The white people he called out will now say he’s “grifting” and a “disgrace to his race.”
March 17, 2021 @ 10:19 am
I’m personally a little in the middle. I’m a white person, and don’t condone the use of that word. I think its hateful, and I understand the difference between a white person using it and black person, and I understand why it is ok for black people… the word was used to belittle them for long enough, I think its their right to “take it back” and use as they see fit, if that makes sense. However, what bugs me is the outrage by white people who DON’T think he should be held accountable, who are outraged that there IS any outrage directed at Morgan Wallen, who believe he should be forgiven before he barely even asked for it. I want to teach my kids to be kind, accepting of others, and to (as cheesy as it sounds), help make the world a better place. Like Jimmie Allen says, as a white person, its NOT my place to be offended at the use of the word – but I think its fair to be disappointed in others who go so far as to defend what he did. I think what bothered me most about this WAS the white people who think he did nothing wrong, who defended him, who, when he gave his more in-depth apology, said he had no NEED to apologize. If he can say, what he did was wrong and he shouldn’t be defended, if he can say he is putting in work to understand why his actions are wrong, and make amends, why are there others out there who still defend him? Appreciate that he might make a real effort to change, rather than saying he didn’t do anything wrong.
March 17, 2021 @ 10:35 am
“However, what bugs me is the outrage by white people who DON’T think he should be held accountable”. Define accountable? How should white people hold Morgan accountable and should that accountability be held across the board regardless of skin color?
March 17, 2021 @ 10:41 am
I disagree with Jimmie Allen saying that you shouldn’t be offended by something somebody says to somebody else. I think if you have the right amount of empathy, it’s fair to make it your business if somebody says something to someone else that’s grossly offensive, especially a racial epithet. The problem is that in this Morgan Wallen case, that’s not what happened. Morgan Wallen didn’t say anything to anyone with the intent to offend. I think that is what Jimmie Allen was trying to say.
But moreover, the reaction has been so disproportionate to the actual offense, it has taken what could have been a teachable moment and perhaps a good reset for race and country music, and made it into a mockery. Most folks luckily don’t have to interface with the parade of think pieces published about country music that I have to. To see the continued larping about this subject now six weeks removed is incredible, as is the hyperbole they employ about how ALL country music is white supremacy and always has been. They’re trying to make this point because they want to tear the entire genre down to remake it in their own image. Meanwhile their efforts are not only counter-productive, they’re making this Morgan Wallen situation into a Waterloo for cancel culture. They’re winning every battle on social media, and losing the war entirely.
March 17, 2021 @ 10:47 am
“Morgan Wallen didn’t say anything to anyone with the intent to offend.”
Exactly.
March 19, 2021 @ 4:39 am
“I think if you have the right amount of empathy…”
The right amount of empathy is OK I guess, but you have to be careful; empathy is a slippery slope.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200930-can-empathy-be-bad-for-you
March 17, 2021 @ 10:45 am
“However, what bugs me is the outrage by white people who DON’T think he should be held accountable, who are outraged that there IS any outrage directed at Morgan Wallen, who believe he should be forgiven before he barely even asked for it.”
Eminem:
Alright, hold up hold up,
Stop the beat a minute,
I got something to say!
Dre,
I wanna tell you this s**t right now
While this f**king weed is in me.
I don’t know if I ever told you this,
But I love you dawg, I got your motherf**king back
Just know this s**t.”
Dr. Dre:
“Slim, I don’t know if you’ve noticed it,
But I’ve had your back from day one, n**ga, let’s blow this b***h.”
Track: What’s the Difference
Album: Chronic 2001
Released: 1999
March 17, 2021 @ 10:29 am
Spot on, Jimmy. It’s just too bad it wasn’t Thomas Rhett who said it. That’s a boycott i could get behind. (JK)
March 17, 2021 @ 10:38 am
Out of this whole incident, this interview has been the only one that has made any kind of sense. I have seen Jimmie Allen at a festival before, and while he’s a good entertainer I don’t particularly care for his music as it’s just another country/pop act. However, at least he is approaching this huge issue with thoughtfulness and common sense. If anybody would be offended that have spoken about the issue, it would be him. Instead, he looked at the context of the video and incident and didn’t try to turn it into something that it wasn’t. Also, he spoke about the real issue being Wallen’s struggle with alcohol and how to address that. Just overall a lot of respect for Allen with the way he has approached this and not tried to gain attention for himself. I figure Maren Morris or Mickey Guyton will be going off on him soon for this interview, but hopefully this gets more attention than all the other B.S. articles about this.
March 18, 2021 @ 10:40 am
Go look at Mickey’s Instagram live Carolyn. Look at the sh*t she has to deal with everyday. She had every right to say something about this poor Morgan nonsense. And reminder it wasn’t the first time he had used that word in front of her and Maren and others. It was the first time he was caught on tape. Make all the excuses you want. Jimmie isn’t getting the hate she is. It’s rotten in Denmark. .
March 18, 2021 @ 10:47 am
For those without Instagram: “Get the f**k away from country music. Take your black a** somewhere else. “ trauma queen _4865. That’s just from yesterday. And this is on a daily basis. It’s hard to justify the whole forgiveness spiel when this behavior is going on a daily basis.
March 18, 2021 @ 11:12 am
Instagram is not a necessity for breathing
March 17, 2021 @ 11:47 am
“my grandfather told me at a young age when someone says something to someone else not directed at you that doesn’t affect you, the only way you can become offended is if you are so self-absorbed and you make something about you that’s not about you.”
Some underrated grandpa wisdom right there. I’ve been wondering when the backlash against the white knight self-absorbed outrage posing was going to take hold. Maybe we’re getting a little closer.
March 17, 2021 @ 11:48 am
Lots of great points by Jimmie Allen. A white person using the ‘n’-word is absolutely ridiculous and stupid, but anyone who ignores the context and automatically screams racism at the individual using the word is just as ridiculous and stupid. Well maybe not the equivalent, but I’m sure people get what I mean. I just agree that people need to judge others on their words (in context), actions, and behavior; as opposed to a half-minute video or sound clip of someone doing something dumb with no context.
I 100% believe most all racism is just based on ignorance. Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve had close friends that would happily claim to be racist; but knowing these people for so long, it’s my opinion they are racist against a stereotype of black people they believe to be true and not black people for the sake of their skin color, even if they claim that themselves.
Some racist friends of mine have black friends, but they justify it as those black people not being like most black people; who they think are welfare mooching, lazy, drug addicted criminals with a dozen illegitimate children. That proves to me it’s not 100% skin color but they just think black people, as a majority, aren’t as intelligent or hard working as they are (which is ironic because those of my friends that fall into that category aren’t Einstein by any means).
These people know how I feel and that I 100% disagree with their views, but we can talk to each other respectively, and over time I’ve actually seen progress with their views. It’s going to take certain types of people (racists) having positive encounters with minorities to change their views for the most part. Adding in some respectful conversation might help a little, but it’s going to be slow going. But blindly fighting, name-calling, and accusatory behavior will never change anything…..I think I may have described some of the plot of American History X in my rant, haha.
March 17, 2021 @ 12:22 pm
All that’s left for Morgan’s career is for Weird Al to do a parody of “I can’t love you more than my hometown” about cancel culture and include references to Mr. Potato Head, Dr. Seuss, The Mandalorian, and using the N-word. (“I can’t love you more than my constantly fueled sense of self-righteous indignation”? Al- workshop this). Is anyone really mad at Wallen anymore? He’s hit all the right notes, and his record company hasn’t dropped him. The story has legs because it has revealed the amount of people who refuse to say it was a mistake and don’t want him to apologize or face any consequences at all. That’s the real heart of darkness here that keeps the story going, and that’s a lot bigger problem than Morgan Wallen’s career. Who knows, maybe he will be able to influence his fans to evolve along with him. Or maybe they’ll reject him, too, if he insists it was a mistake (see song parody title above).
March 17, 2021 @ 1:02 pm
The liberal elite can’t do “cancel culture” like the evangelicals can! Spending as many years in church as I have has given me a front row seat to the “cancelation” of everything from The Beastie Boys to The Smurfs! Satanic back masking and all the good stuff. This is just an example of a young man who knows damn well that everyone has a camera on yelling something he damn well knows he shouldn’t. Of course some obnoxious people on twitter are bring obnoxious. Stay off twitter, listen to some Doc Watson, smoke some dope and enjoy yourself!
March 17, 2021 @ 1:58 pm
Whoever raised Jimmie Allen deserves a huge pat on the back.
What an elegant and gracious guy.
Along similar lines, NASCAR driver Kyle Larson made a comment very similar to Morgan’s and was dropped by his sponsor and suspended last year.
The largest team owner hired him this year and he won last week’s race.
The first driver to congratulate him in Victory Lane was black driver Bubba Wallace.
I still think that the most pressing matter regarding Morgan is his need to get help with his alcoholism (and perhaps other addictions). He’s a train wreck. People apparently enable him.
And, without help, things will not end well for him.
We don’t need anymore country music burnouts like Hank, Sr. and Keith Whitley.
March 17, 2021 @ 4:11 pm
I think part of what’s being missed is imo this is hip hop/ rap influenced behavior. A generation has been raised in a way that using that word is just part of the vocabulary and nothing negative. You want to sell catchy music but you want the buyers to self censor your own words?
March 17, 2021 @ 5:37 pm
The reason I like Jimmy Allen: he has a head on his shoulders and I really like his music! Screw cancel culture.
March 17, 2021 @ 7:08 pm
Jimmy Allen gets it. White woke hypocritical media-hounds do not.
March 18, 2021 @ 6:08 am
This is a manufactured “controversy.”
The guy who recorded the video of it was and IS a friend of Morgan Wallen. This is prefab, a gambit to achieve “earned media.”
Mr. Potatohead is a toy, and you could ALWAYS put Mrs. Potatohead parts on the “male” version of the toy. They were rewarded with hundreds of hours worth of national-level media coverage.
Dr. Seuss himself, did not want the drawings and stories involved, to be part of his legacy. The publisher COULD have simply stopped publishing them, without press releases and interviews. Again, hundreds of hours of national coverage, at a time when the people who would enjoy the racist imagery, are dealing with massive defeat, and are already stinging from LEGITIMATE racial issues.
This is how we promote things now. It costs almost nothing to perpetrate, reaches tens of millions of people, and that is precisely the point. Never forget that.
Morgan Wallen is not a major talent. His music is largely throwaway. He’ll never be mentioned with Johnny, or Willie, or Dolly. Sure, he’ll be around a lot longer now, but like Billy Ray or Mindy McCready, it won’t be his shallow attempt at country music that he’ll be remembered for, it’ll be because of literally everything BUT that music.
March 18, 2021 @ 8:36 am
I’m shocked . . .that someone would have a job that involved listening to Bobby Bones and hadn’t walked out in utter shock, disbelief, and consternation.
I’m offended by what Morgan Wallen does in general, so no shocker there.
March 18, 2021 @ 8:57 am
When I go to a baseball game i can’t help bit notice the guys and girls taking selfie’s to obviously post on social media. And then seeing their heads looking down at her phone the entire time. They don’t care about the game or even who’s playing. They care about who sees them there on their social media account. I feel like a certain part of our society care more about showing the world how much they aren’t racist on social media versus actually not being racist.
March 18, 2021 @ 2:31 pm
Everything Jimmie said for the most part is spot on. It’s a terrible look for Morgan. In another article Allen said, “Bro, no matter how drunk you get, there’s three things we can’t do: you can’t say the F-word if you ain’t gay, you can’t say the N-word if you ain’t Black, and you can’t beat women.’ There’s three things.” Why is that okay? If you’re so offended by a word as a black person or gay person, don’t use it either!!! Respect each other in your own community too!!!
March 18, 2021 @ 5:29 pm
“you can’t say the F-word if you ain’t gay,”
Need to be educated …
Unfortunately, (and, cross my heart, Really try not to) the f word comes out of my mouth, more often than it should.
Not a gay bone in my body.
i don’t understand that sentence.
Not that that is going to stop me from saying that particular word.
If get really irritated, f a duck, comes out.
March 18, 2021 @ 6:13 pm
Sorry I typed that backwards for some reason.
March 19, 2021 @ 5:57 am
different f word….
March 20, 2021 @ 7:41 am
I absolutely love everything about Jimmie Allens comments!! He’s 100% dead-on. Love it love it! Also, people need the STFU and quit their fake outrage to look good in public eye and that goes especially for the bastards at Morgan’s label. Well done Jimmie!!
March 20, 2021 @ 7:45 am
You really think that’s the F word he’s referring too? LOL! You need to think a little bit on that one.
March 18, 2021 @ 3:27 pm
I saw a comment Jimmie left on Morgan’s last Instagram post. He spoke of forgiveness and what he said was, paraphrased, “I am here for you. I am praying for you. We all deserve redemption.” Jimmie is just a really good person with a beautiful voice- just wish he’d sing more traditional country!
March 20, 2021 @ 11:40 am
Laughing.
OMGosh.
Took 2 days to figure out what you guys were saying.
Out to lunch with friends on this Gorgeous day, and an adult beverage later – understood.
Thanks for slappin’ me upside the head until i got there
March 18, 2021 @ 8:19 pm
To some, I’m starting to think it is.
March 18, 2021 @ 8:21 pm
That was supposed to go to Di about instagram
March 18, 2021 @ 8:54 pm
Received.
: D
March 18, 2021 @ 8:32 pm
I can see Isbell, Margo and mini-Khloe Maren’s heads exploding from trying to come up with a way to make Jimmie racist.
A lot of what he says is on par with Bill Burrs bits about the white woke brigade, just trying to make themselves look and sound cool.
March 20, 2021 @ 5:32 pm
Jimmie is right, especially the part where he says this has only become an issue now. Everybody has seen it. The Kid Rock bar fiasco, the partying and losing SNL thing. This. Yet, his management team chose to not step in and do something before they started losing money, including kiyahmarie (her IG name). Jimmie posted on her “don’t make Morgan a bad guy” post, “I love your heart”. So while Jimmie is saying the right things, he supported one of the people who is enabling Morgan! I don’t get that. I also don’t get the whole “you need to forgive him before he makes himself better thing” too.
I guess my opinion is that Morgan and his team just needed to quietly take their lumps. His family, his team posting about what a good person he is doesn’t negate the fact that he has issues with alcohol and needs help. It’s enabling him even more.
I’m all for letting MW come back eventually, but he’s gotta earn it. Show that he’s working on himself. His apology was a good first step, especially telling his fans not to support his actions. But he’s still got a long way to go imo.
May 2, 2021 @ 4:29 am
Some of us are not defending Morgan, but supporting his ability to have a career. His behavior was there for us all to see on video. Each person sees it and determines the severity of the act by each person’s standards; but it is wrong for the media to label him a racist based on that incident alone unless one refuses to put the video in context or decided not to view the video, but instead read what the media said happened. It’s not as if conglomerate radio and CMT and Sirius XM and his label said oh, he shouldn’t have done that and said he’s suspended for a set time; or he doesn’t get awards for a set time. No; it’s all indefinite; it’s all the career death penalty for what we all could go and see and decide for ourselves whether to cancel or not to cancel. These corporations put out statements that far overblow the actual incident that we all could see for ourselves. They call him names that are so horrible that they reflect on, not only him, but his family and all his associations; and they do this with no repercussions from the media. Three months after the incident and nearly three months after his apology and two weeks after he self-imposed a suspension on tour dates this summer, Dick Clark Productions put out the most horrendous statement to date not counting some mainstream media. They do not get called out for pretending to know Morgan’s core values; pretending to know the core values of all their staff members; and pretending to know the core values of the other nominees; and then making a determination that Morgan’s core values do not align with their core values. They also outright called Morgan a racist. We live in a world where Morgan gets cancelled for being billigerent, vulgar and drunk, using innapropriate language, but not meaning to hurt anyone and not caught lying or mistreating anyone; yet this entity can spread smears, lies and hate and make ridiculous, ludicrous statements and no media and no peer artists call them out.
March 22, 2021 @ 12:15 pm
Kinda related.
This reminds me of the story where that rapper (Kendrick Lamar) invites a white girl to rap to the lyrics of his song on stage even though it’s full of the n-word.
Special words and special rules for special people.
March 23, 2021 @ 7:04 am
“Forgiveness is more powerful than abandonment. Our job as humans is to help each other be the best version of themselves.”
I like this quote a lot, and agree with it in the public sense. The think pieces and essays have probably gotten too self-righteous to the point where forgiveness is unattainable. That should never be the case.
However, forgiveness does not absolve Morgan from accountability. In the professional sense, it’s fair for his employer to hold him accountable as they see fit. It’s not their job to coddle him if they do not want to.