Country singer Morgan Wallen breaks silence over Nashville arrest: ‘I’m not proud’

Country singer has been involved in a number of controversies in recent years

Controversial country star Morgan Wallen has spoken out after he was arrested in Nashville earlier this month, saying he is “not proud” of his behaviour.

The “Wasted on You” singer, 30, was taken into police custody on 7 April after allegedly throwing a chair from the roof of Eric Church’s honky-tonk bar, Chief’s, on Broadway.

The chair apparently landed near two officers who were standing in front of the six-storey restaurant. Wallen was charged with disorderly conduct three counts of reckless endangerment.

He was released from Davidson County Jail at around 3.30am on 8 April on a $15,000 bail. He must appear in court on 3 May, which coincides with the second Nashville show of his ongoing tour.

“I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks,” Wallen wrote from his social media accounts.

“I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behaviour, and I accept responsibility.”

He added: “I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change.”

A source told theDaily Mail that the incident at Chief’s was Wallen’s reaction to learning that his ex-fiancee, Katie “KT” Smith, had married her new partner Luke Scornavacco.

They claimed that the singer was “crushed” to learn that Smith and Scornavacco had married just a few days after they announced their engagement.

Wallen and Smith, 29, share a three-year-old son, Indigo.

The country star was previously arrested in 2020 at Kid Rock’s Nashvill bar on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

He also caused an international scandal after he was filmed using a racial slur in 2021, and was dropped by his agent as a result. Wallen later apologised for the incident and promised “to do better”.

Morgan Wallen has apologised after an incident in Nashville (Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Despite this string of controversies, he remains one of the most commercially successful artists in the US. Earlier this year, his third studio album, 2023’s One Thing at a Time, achieved 19 weeks at the top of the Billboard 100 charts, making it the longest-charting No 1 country album of all time.

His single “Last Night” also beat Harry Styles’s “As It Was” for the record of longest run for a non-collaborative single at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, after it stayed there for 16 weeks.