Morgan Wallen has postponed the opening of his Nashville bar, which was slated to open its doors over Memorial Day Weekend, at the last minute.
Just hours before the venue was set to open, Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen revealed in a statement to Billboard that it would not be ready in time for the holiday weekend.
‘We’re proud of our team who has worked tirelessly to prepare Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen for opening. The ground-up construction of a six-story venue launching with hundreds of team members is a tremendous amount of work and a complex process,’ the TC Restaurant Group said in a statement to Billboard.
The organizers continued: ‘When we open, we want This Bar to be an exceptional experience for guests. Unfortunately, the process requires more time, and we are not able to open and provide that experience this Memorial Day weekend. Rest assured it will be well worth the wait. We look forward to welcoming guests soon.’
TC Restaurant Group also owns a number of celebrity bars like Jason Aldean’s Kitchen and Rooftop Bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa and more.
Morgan Wallen has postponed the opening of his Nashville bar, which was slated to open its doors over Memorial Day Weekend, at the last minute
At this time, no new opening date has been set, but the venue promised it would be ‘coming soon.’
A source told Billboard that ‘the restaurant/bar is awaiting final inspections, but declined to address whether TC Restaurant Group had been denied a catering license (which allows an establishment to sell liquor, wine and beer).’
The insider, however, did clarify that the postponement of the opening was not related to the Nashville Metro Council’s decision to deny his proposal for a 20-foot sign advertising his new bar on the downtown Nashville strip.
Some fans expressed disappointment under the bar’s last Instagram post as they had already made the trip to Nashville to check out the bar.
‘Dang I drove 12 hours for this,’ one write under the bar’s last Instagram post.
Another follower stated they were ‘pretty bummed’ as they had ‘purchased flights hotel’ with ‘a lot of hard earned money.’
‘I understand not being in control however some notice would of been nice or at least an announcement- we love Morgan Wallen and we’re very excited to go to his bar opening- sorry for the rant just a bit disappointed,’ the explained of their reaction.
On Tuesday, the Nashville Metro Council rejected Wallen request due to his past controversies, including his arrest, last month, and past use of a racial slur.
Just hours before the venue was set to open, Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen explained in a statement to Billboard that it would not be ready in time for for the holiday weekend
On Tuesday, the Nashville Metro Council rejected Wallen request due to his past controversies, including his arrest, last month, and past use of a racial slur (seen above in a 2020 mugshot, taken after he was arrested for public intoxication at Kid Rock’s club in Nashville)
During the vote, District 14 Council member Jordan Huffman called the Heartless hitmaker’s actions ‘harmful’ and past use of the N-word ‘hateful.’
Councilmember Delishia Porterfield agreed as she gave an impassioned speech about wanting to ‘make sure Nashville is a supportive place for everyone.’
‘I don’t want to see a billboard up with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs,’ Porterfield explained of her decision to vote no.
Some found Porterfield’s words ironic as one X user wrote that it was ‘funny to hear inclusion language used to exclude someone for BS [bulls**t]’ as they accused the councilwoman of trying to shut out Wallen and his fans.
‘If I were Morgan I’d hold all my future Tennessee tour dates outside of Nashville. Screw them. If they don’t want him they don’t deserve to benefit from the money he’s bringing their city,’ one social media user suggested.
Another wrote: ‘He should put his bar just outside Nashville city limits. I bet it would be packed.’
Others noted that Wallen’s bar, This Bar and Tennessee Restaurant, was still opening this weekend, and like a number of celebrity-owned bars in downtown Nashville, a sign with his name will ‘eventually’ go up.
Still, some haters questioned ‘how many chances does’ Wallen get before something doesn’t ‘go his way.’
Some fans expressed disappointment online as they had already made the trip to Nashville to check out the bar
Another follower stated they were ‘pretty bummed’ as they had ‘purchased flights hotel’ with ‘a lot of hard earned money’
Last month, Wallen was arrested after he allegedly chucked a chair off a rooftop bar in downtown Nashville; seen in 2023
Last month, Wallen was arrested after he allegedly chucked a chair off a rooftop bar in downtown Nashville.
Wallen was charged with three counts of felony reckless endangerment and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, with officers alleging the chair landed three feet from them.
Wallen previously faced substantial backlash in 2021 when TMZ released a video of the singer saying the N-word to one of his friends after a night out.
After the footage of Wallen using the racial slur went viral, many radio stations stopped playing his music and the Country Music Association removed Wallen’s appearances from their platforms.
His songs were removed from Apple Music, Pandora and Spotify featured playlists because of the sandal.
Wallen previously faced substantial backlash in 2021 when TMZ released a video of the singer saying the N-word to one of his friends after a night out
Wallen’s record label, Big Loud, suspended its recording contract with him indefinitely.
The Academy of Country Music announced that Wallen and his most recent album at the time, Dangerous: The Double Album, would be ineligible for the 56th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.
In the week after the racism, album sales for Dangerous surged and the digital sales went up over 100 per cent.
He even remained on top of the Billboard charts for seven more weeks.
In April, 2021, Wallen donated $300,000 to the Black Music Action Coalition in the names of 20 people who had counseled him after he used the racial slur.
Wallen publicly spoke of his comments on Good Morning America on July 23, where he said that ‘he was around some of his friends, and they say dumb stuff together’ and said that ‘he was wrong’ to express those words.
