Drake faced criticism after releasing his “You Broke My Heart” music video on Wednesday (December 20). The Canadian superstar enlisted controversial singer Morgan Wallen for a cameo, which did not sit well with some of Drake’s fans.
Wallen is one of the biggest stars in country music, but he was infamously caught using a racist slur outside his Nashville home in 2021. TMZ released a video of the incident, which led to several bans and his record label suspending him.
“In the wake of recent events, Big Loud Records has made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely,” his label said in a statement. “Republic Records fully supports Big Loud’s decision and agrees such behavior will not be tolerated.”
Wallen was eventually reinstated and his career recovered. He said there was “no excuse” for his use of the slur in a December 2023 interview with Billboard.
“I’ve never made an excuse,” he said. “I never will make an excuse. I’ve talked to a lot of people, heard stories [about] things that I would have never thought about because I wasn’t the one going through it. And I think, for me, in my heart I was never that guy that people were portraying me to be, so there was a little bit of like, ‘Damn, I’m kind of actually mad about this a little bit because I know I shouldn’t have said this, but I’m really not that guy.’”
He continued, “I put myself in just such a s### spot, you know? Like, ‘You really messed up here, guy.’ If I was that guy, then I wouldn’t have cared. I wouldn’t have apologized. I wouldn’t have done any of that if I really was that guy that people were saying about me.”
But an apology tour was never going to be enough for many observers, who remained disgusted with Wallen. Unsurprisingly, Drake’s decision to team up with Wallen elicited outrage.
Check out some of the reactions below.
MORGAN WALLEN AUBREY?! pic.twitter.com/DufqccyWJK
— ΜΛΛL (@Osito1034) December 20, 2023
why is drake chilling with morgan wallen? chile
— Joe (@icametosupport) December 20, 2023
That Drake and Morgan Wallen video is… cringe. Morgan has proven he’s a racist… and then they have white women lip syncing the n word?? wtf is going on here.
— cryptic & machiavellian (@prncssofduality) December 20, 2023
why this racist man in the drake video pic.twitter.com/c2bGjbzawH
— the eldest boy (@devonarnold__) December 20, 2023
Morgan Wallen the racist? Drake surely couldn’t be stooping this low for attention https://t.co/iatmgMQ4FQ
— 🅱️ig Protein (@chicagoBRIZ) December 20, 2023