Why did Nashville Metro Council reject proposed sign for Morgan Wallen's bar? Country star's past controversies explored

On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, Nashville Metro Council voted to reject Morgan Wallen's request to install signage for his bar, This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen. Per The Tennessean, the establishment, located on Nashville's Honky Tonk Highway, is set to open this Memorial Day. However, the proposed 20' sign was rejected, with 30-3 votes against it.

Councilwoman Delishia Porterfield denied the construction of the "aerial encroachment," citing the 31-year-old singer's past controversial behavior, stating:

"We want to make sure that Nashville was a supportive place for everyone, so I don’t want to see a billboard with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs, using the n-word, so I’m voting no."

Porterfield is referring to the recent arrest on felony charges against the Whiskey Glasses singer for allegedly throwing a chair off a rooftop bar and an old video where he was heard saying the N-word.

---

Morgan Wallen was previously arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct

Morgan Wallen is a country singer and songwriter hailing from Tennessee. He is best known for his songs 7 Summers, Last Night, and Sand in My Boots. He boasts an Academy of Country Music Award and fourteen Billboard Music Awards.

Back in April, Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) arrested the country singer after he threw a chair off the roof of a six-story bar, Chief's on Broadway (owned by fellow singer Eric Church and opened in April 2024). Per an X post by MNPD, the chair landed on the street close to two law enforcement officers.

He was charged with three counts of felony reckless endangerment and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. According to the court documents, several witnesses saw Wallen picking up the chair, throwing it over the edge, and "laughing afterward." The musician's bond was set for $15,250.

Morgan Wallen later shared an X post (April 19), accepting responsibility for his actions.

Morgan Wallen's chair-throwing case is scheduled for an August hearing.

However, this was not the first time he was arrested. The country singer was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct in May 2020. Per police records, he was kicked out of Kid Rock's Honky Tonk due to disorderly behavior. after he began kicking glass items inside. The report elaborated that he got in to verbal altercations with several people passing by.

Later, he was arrested after he refused to "walk away" from the scene. His bond was set for $500, and the singer was later released. The charges were eventually dropped.

In 2021, TMZ obtained video showing Morgan Wallen and his friends, who returned from a night out, making enough noise to disturb the neighbors. The footage captured by a neighbor's doorbell camera shows a very drink Wallen uses the N-word to describe to one of his friends.

As news of the video spread, the singer's contract with his record label was suspended, he was disqualified from the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards, and even his music was removed from radio play.

In July 2021, Morgan Wallen revealed on Good Morning America that he was working on himself" and checked into a rehabilitation center after introspecting if it was a deeper issue like alcohol abuse.

In a separate incident from 2020, the country star was disinvited from appearing on Saturday Night Live after he broke COVID-19 security and was spotted attending a closed gathering. The singer was also seen kissing several women during the party.

Morgan Wallen later explained that his actions were "shortsighted" and later accepted SNL's decision to remove him as the musical guest from the show.

---

Morgan Wallen is currently on his One Night at a Time World Tour, scheduled for a show in Missouri on May 25.