After host Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs announced at the Billboard Music Awards that he was “uncanceling” Morgan Wallen, the country singer took to the stage for a seven-minute bloc to perform two songs.
Wallen was subdued and didn’t address the audience before performing “Me on Whiskey” and “Wasted on You,” while seated and backed by his band. He concluded his set with a simple “Thank you” before the show cut to commercial.
Sunday marked a comeback for Wallen, who was up for four awards after he was embroiled in controversy after he was filmed shouting a racial epithet a month after Dangerous: The Double Album dropped last year. The fallout was immediate, with country radio dropping Morgan’s songs and major awards shows, including the ACM and CMA Awards, disinviting him from attending. He was also temporarily suspended from his record label, Big Loud Records, and dropped by his former talent agency, WME.
Despite spending much of 2021 on the sidelines, Morgan dominated the Billboard 200 last year with his record-breaking Dangerous album.
Heading into Sunday’s show, Diddy called for forgiveness for Wallen. “The mood of the show is about love and forgiveness,” he said. “As a musical family, none of us are saints; none of us are without things that happen to them in life.”
He said of the “Cover Me Up” singer, “Morgan [used the N-word] while talking to his boy… People make mistakes. Now we’re moving on with love and respect for everybody that was hurt or affected. It’s time to forgive.”
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