Justin Bieber has apologised for a post he shared expressing his appreciation for Morgan Wallen‘s latest album, saying he “had no idea” about the incident where the country artist was filmed using a racial slur.
In February, a video emerged showing Wallen using a racial slur. The musician – who told fans not to defend him in wake of the incident – was dropped by radio stations and playlists, as well as his record label Big Loud.
But sales of Wallen’s latest album ‘Dangerous’ surged, and he went on to maintain the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 for a total of ten weeks, setting a record for the longest amount of time a country album has held the top spot. Incidentally, the album was only dethroned when Bieber released his sixth album, ‘Justice’.
Bieber expressed his appreciation for Wallen in a recent post to his Instagram Story, sharing the cover art for ‘Dangerous’ alongside the caption: “Love this album.”
Justin Bieber shows love to Morgan Wallen’s album ‘Dangerous: The Double Album’ in new Instagram story:
“Love this album” pic.twitter.com/kPlpMEZh06
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 4, 2021
After being called out by fans, Bieber deleted the post, sharing a message explaining he was unaware of Wallen’s comments.
“I had no idea that the guy’s music I posted was recently found saying racist comments,” he wrote. “As you know I don’t support or tolerate any sort of racism or discrimination. I had no idea, I sincerely apologise to anyone I offended.”
Bieber went through his own slur-related scandal in 2014, after videos surfaced showing the singer making racist jokes involving the N-word. He reflected on the incident in 2019, saying: “When I was young I was uneducated and found myself saying really hurtful things not knowing the power of my words.”
Bieber alluded to that incident on his Instagram stories apologising for the Wallen shoutout, writing: “When I was a kid, I was incredibly ignorant and said some very hurtful racist jokes that were clearly not funny. I hurt a lot of people especially the Black people in my life but was fortunate enough to have had them educate me on the horrifying origin of the N-word.
“This brings those painful memories back up, I will always take ownership for my ignorance and my past because I know I am not that person.
“I know that I have apologised for this before but knowing this is such a sensitive issue, I believe it’s important to bring this up to hopefully educate people who may be ignorant to the topic of racism and how hurtful it is.”
He concluded, “I have so much more to learn and I’m grateful for my Black brothers and sisters for being patient with me as I have a long way to go.”
Back in May, Wallen performed for the first time since his scandal broke, taking to the stage at Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk & Steakhouse bar in Nashville. His music also made a return to radio stations in June.
Bieber’s latest release was the single ‘Stay’, a collaboration with Australian rapper The Kid LAROI. Bieber and Machine Gun Kelly joined LAROI for a surprise concert held last week on the roof of the Hollywood Palladium.
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