Morgan Wallen has made good on his promise to donate $500,000 to the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) and other Black-led or owned organizations.
Earlier this week, the country hitmaker donated $100,000 to the National Museum Of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee, fulfilling his pledge of $500,000 to Black-led or owned organizations, according to USA TODAY.
The outlet reported that Tuwisha Rogers-Simpson, vice president of brand and partnerships for NMAAM, confirmed that the museum received the country hitmaker’s donation of $100,000 on behalf of Wallen’s More Than My Hometown Foundation.
Rogers-Simpson also told USA TODAY that she “had the opportunity to tour and share our mission with Morgan as he was eager to learn more in a sincere effort to grow.” She also added that the funds donated will go to support education and operational initiatives at the museum.
In September of 2021, Wallen’s manager, Seth England, clarified the East Tennessee native’s contributions to various Black groups to USA TODAY, following a report from Rolling Stone that questioned whether Wallen had followed through with his philanthropic pledge.
The publication initially alleged that “the money seems largely M.I.A.” after it claimed to contact 56 Black-led or Black-founded charities at the state, regional and national levels. The report stated that it was “unclear if Wallen actually donated” to any other organization aside from BMAC, who told Rolling Stone it did receive “some money” from Wallen, however the $500,000 donation amount “seems exceptionally misleading.”
England previously confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY, as well as records documenting his contributions, “$300,000 to BMAC in the names of 20 individuals who had counseled him following the incident when he uttered the N-word during a night of partying. Those individuals were given the option to funnel their respective $15,000 donations to a charity of their choice, or keep the money within BMAC.”
$165,000 of the pledged funds to BMAC stayed within the organization. According to documents reviewed by USA TODAY, “the remaining $135,000 was distributed to several smaller charities of the individuals’ choice.”
Young People’s Chorus of New York City, Teen Dream Center, Beatrice W. Welters Breast Health Outreach & Navigation Program, Right Hand Foundation were among the smaller charities that the 20 individuals chose to donate to.
Wallen’s label and management team also shared that the singer/songwriter has made strides to educate and better himself since his use of the racial slur earlier this year.
“We’ve been a part of Morgan’s life for over five years and are grateful to have gotten to know him and his heart. We know who he is and who he is striving to be. We’re seeing the work that he is putting in and are confident in the steps that he is taking,” said Big Loud partners Craig Wiseman, Joey Moi and England in an exclusive statement to USA TODAY.
Wallen’s promise to donate to various Black organizations came in July when he appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to discuss his use of the racial slur.
“Before this incident, my album was already doing well,” Wallen said. “It was already being well-received by critics and by fans. Me and my team noticed that whenever this whole incident happened that there was a spike in my sales. So we tried to calculate what the number of — how much it actually spiked from this incident.”
When totaling the increase in sales, it was determined to be “somewhere around $500,000.”
.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: @MorganWallen reveals to @michaelstrahan he spent 30 days in rehab following the incident and he says he donated the money from his spike in album sales to Black organizations. https://t.co/PXMd3zA5En pic.twitter.com/BAZI4uFXXf
— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 23, 2021
Rolling Stone has since corrected its story with new details about Wallen’s donations.
Additionally, Wallen’s label Big Loud Records donated $100,000 on behalf of the East Tennessee native to Rock Against Racism, according to the non-profit’s founder, Cory Brennan. The donated funds will go toward “education and action plans for the organization,” Brennan said.
Rock Against Racism “is a non-profit organization consisting of a collective of musicians, artists, and music industry leaders continuing the crucial work of combating systemic racism.”
The “Sand In My Boots” singer is gearing up to embark on his 60+ date Dangerous Tour, which is already sold out in most markets, and kicks off on February 3 at Ford Center in Evansville, IN.
