Morgan Wallen is facing backlash after a video leaked of him using a racial slur during a druken night out in Nashville. The singer has since had his contract suspended by his record label and had his actions reprimanded by some of his country music contemporaries. Diplo was also briefly swept up in the controversy after he played his Wallen collaboration “Heartless” during a Super Bowl afterparty in Florida, so the producer is doing what he can to make amends.
While members of the music industry were distancing themselves from Wallen following the singer’s racist comment, many of his fans doubled-down on their support by buying up a lot of his albums. Some of that money went to Jason Isbell after Wallen covered one of his songs. But instead of keeping the money, Isbell announced that he was donating his earnings from the song to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP.
So… A portion of this money goes to me, since I wrote ‘Cover Me Up.’ I’ve decided to donate everything I’ve made so far from this album to the Nashville chapter of the @NAACP. Thanks for helping out a good cause, folks. https://t.co/Ch3FlDBmJf
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) February 10, 2021
After seeing Isbell’s generous act, Diplo decided to follow suit after apologizing for playing “Heartless” during his DJ set. “‘Heartless’ is a old song of mine thats been in my live set for years,” Diplo wrote. “Im sorry, I didn’t mean to make anyone mad or offended by playing a song featuring Morgan. It was by no means a Political statement or a message.”
Heartless is a old song of mine thats been in my live set for years. Im sorry, I didn't mean to make anyone mad or offended by playing a song featuring Morgan. It was by no means a Political statement or a message. Jason’s doin the right thing, Im also donating my proceeds https://t.co/tzcM8xJpBw
— diplo (@diplo) February 11, 2021
Diplo then noted that he also plans to donate the money he made from “Heartless” to the NAACP legal fund.
Heartless is a old song of mine thats been in my live set for years. Im sorry, I didn't mean to make anyone mad or offended by playing a song featuring Morgan. It was by no means a Political statement or a message. Jason’s doin the right thing, Im also donating my proceeds https://t.co/tzcM8xJpBw
— diplo (@diplo) February 11, 2021
Just ahead of Diplo’s apology, Wallen similarly tried to hold himself accountable for his actions in a lengthy video. “Since that video was taken, I’ve been sober for nine days,” Wallen said. “It’s not all that long of time, but it’s enough to know the man in that video is not the man that I’m trying to be.”
See Diplo’s apology above.