Country music response to Wallen racism shows Republicans how they failed on Greene

At the same time House Republicans were trying to figure out what to do about QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the country music community was grappling with how to hold one of their biggest stars accountable for using the N-word. In the span of 24 hours, the country music genre became a mirror for the societal tensions our country has been trying to navigate.

Morgan Wallen was infamously caught on tape using an abhorrent racial slur. It was just four months after Wallen was mired in another controversy — when NBC's "Saturday Night Live" rescinded his invitation to perform because he violated COVID safety protocols. After embarking on an image rehabilitation tour, he was invited back and appeared on the show in December, even participating in a skit poking fun at the entire situation.

In January, Wallen opened up on ABC's "Good Morning America" about the struggles of being a single parent. It was a well-choregraphed public relations campaign to soften his bro-country, fraternity boy image. With the January release of his double-album, "Dangerous," Wallen was on top of the music world, smashing streaming records and cementing his place as country music’s next bona fide superstar.

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Dropped within 24 hours

The backlash was swift and furious.

Grammy Awards-nominated country music artist Mickey Guyton, fresh off her performance on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert of “Black Like Me” (it’s also Black History Month) tweeted, “The hate runs deep. … How many passes will you continue to give? Asking for a friend. No one deserves to be cancelled, but this is unacceptable. Promises to do better don’t mean sh*t.”

Superstar Maren Morris responded with a meme saying, “I just can’t,” and later commented on a separate thread to fellow artist Kelsea Ballerini that if a female artist had done this, “we’d be dropped, endorsements lost, social pariahs to music row.”

Within 24 hours, Wallen’s music and videos had been dropped by country radio, streaming platforms and CMT. The Academy of Country Music announced that it “will halt Morgan Wallen’s potential involvement and eligibility for this year’s 56th Academy of Country Music Awards cycle.” Most consequentially, his label, Big Loud Records, announced it was suspending him “indefinitely.”

Unsurprisingly, Wallen's fans remain committed to him.

A cursory search of “Morgan Wallen” on Twitter, for instance, shows comments from fans declaring him their “still favorite” country music artist, pledges to not “cancel” him, etc. If you search “Morgan Wallen Trump,” the divisions within the country at large come to light as people compare Morgan Wallen defenders to those who support a certain twice-impeached private citizen who resides in Florida.

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Something extraordinary was happening in country as the Wallen scandal exploded. TJ Osborne, one-half of the award-winning Brothers Osborne duo, in his first public reveal, told TIME that he was gay. That makes him the first male artist signed to a major record label in Nashville who is openly gay.

The response was as dramatic as what greeted Wallen, but in a completely opposite direction. Superstar Dierks Bentley tweeted, “Love this guy right here. Happy you are telling your story dude.”

Jimmie Allen, one of the format’s only black artists, tweeted, “TJ!!! I’m super proud of you dude. I love the person you are and your heart. Thankful for your courage.” Kacey Musgraves, one of the most successful and acclaimed female artists of this era, tweeted, “Overcome with joy. He’s one of my best friends and one of the bravest people I know.”

This is the Nashville that I’ve come to know and be a part of. One of inclusiveness, friendship, community and love. It wasn’t lost on me that TJ came out on the same day that Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay Cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate, and was sworn in by the first black and female vice president.

Lessons from country's decisive action

And in one day, Nashville became a real-time lens for the rest of our country. How do you reconcile a community whose fastest-rising star uses the N-word, but also a community that genuinely supports an artist like TJ for coming out? How do you reconcile speaking up and speaking the truth, when a portion of the audience has been radicalized by the same forces that have upended our democracy? I think the answer begins with accountability and a baseline standard for what constitutes moral conduct.

I found myself thinking, what if House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the GOP stood up to Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene the same way the country music community united to hold Morgan Wallen accountable? In one collective action, the community decided to drop his music, disqualify him from awards and suspend his record deal, even though the decision to do so is probably unpopular with the country music “base.”

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But from this decisive and very public act of self-policing, country music has established a precedent for action against anyone who crosses the line. If it can happen to the guy who is literally at the top of the music charts, it can happen to anyone. No one is bigger than the community. And because it took action, country music is not at risk of being overrun by conspiracy theorists, racists and insurrectionists. It is able to hold on to the high-ground and continue this community's efforts to promote peace, equality, equity, unity, and acceptance.

The fact that country music is doing more to hold people accountable than the Republican Party illustrates how far off-course the GOP has gone.

Kurt Bardella, creator and publisher of the country music tipsheet the Morning Hangover and a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors, was the spokesperson and senior adviser for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans from 2009-2013. Follow him on Twitter: @kurtbardella

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Morgan Wallen backlash spotlights shameful Republican failure on Greene