Nashville Council rejects sign for Morgan Wallen's new bar, citing his 'harmful actions'

Morgan Wallen's Broadway bar is set to open this Memorial Day weekend, but a sign bearing his name won't be joining the fabled throng of neon lights over Nashville's Honky Tonk Highway.

Nashville's council soundly rejected plans for a 20-foot sign advertising "Morgan Wallen's This Bar" Tuesday, citing the country music star's past use of a racial slur and pending felony and misdemeanor charges over a chair thrown off another Broadway bar's six-story rooftop in April.

"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," At-large Council member Delishia Porterfield said Tuesday.

The council voted 30-3 to deny the aerial encroachment to allow the construction and installation of the sign. Four council members, including 5th Congressional District challenger Courtney Johnston, abstained. Council approval is needed any time a sign is constructed over a public right of way — in this case, a sidewalk in one of Nashville's most iconic districts.

Wallen's bar, called "This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen" after his 2019 song of the same name, is located at 107 Fourth Avenue North, adjacent to the Ryman Auditorium. The six-story building will feature six bars, a rooftop and three live music stages.

Representatives for Wallen and TC Restaurant Group, the company developing and managing the bar, declined to comment on the council decision.

What to know:Morgan Wallen to open 'This Bar' in downtown Nashville.

Morgan Wallen's Broadway arrests

Police documents accuse Wallen of throwing a chair over the railing of Chief's, Eric Church's new six-story honky-tonk, around 11 p.m. on April 7. The chair landed just feet away from several Nashville police officers who were standing in front of the building, according to Wallen's arrest affidavit.

Chief's is located less than 600 feet down the street from Wallen's new bar.

Wallen will appear in court in Nashville on Aug. 15. The 30-year-old faces three Class E felony counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon and one count of disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor.

"I'm not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility," Wallen wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, several days after his arrest. "I didn't feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I've touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief's."

This is not the first time Wallen has been arrested in downtown Nashville — police arrested him on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct in May 2020 after Wallen was kicked out of Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse for "kicking glass items" and verbally fighting with passersby. But those charges were likely expunged; they are absent from Davidson County Criminal Court records.

More:Timeline of Morgan Wallen's rollercoaster career after his most recent arrest

Council members denounce Wallen's actions

Council member Jacob Kupin, who represents downtown Nashville, sponsored the legislation and was one of three council members who voted in favor of green-lighting the sign's installation. Though aerial encroachment legislation typically sails through Metro Council, Kupin said he felt he could not "let this individual just slide through quietly."

"It struck me that … we're putting up a sign with someone's name on it who has not been a good actor downtown," Kupin said, adding that Wallen has since "made efforts to apologize and to make amends."

Kupin said he voted in favor of the legislation because TC Restaurant Group "has been really a good partner in everything going on downtown" and he felt they should not be penalized for what happened.

"To me, it's important to remind those watching at home, the public, whether you're a celebrity or someone coming to our town or someone who lives here, that downtown needs to be a safe place," he said.

But the majority of council members said they could not overlook Wallen's actions, with several referring to a 2021 recording that showed Wallen drunkenly using a racial slur. He later pledged to donate a total of $500,000 to organizations including the Black Music Action Coalition and the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville — donations verified as complete by USA TODAY in September 2021.

District 24 Council member Brenda Gadd remarked that Wallen is "someone who continues to get second chances."

"Mr. Wallen is a fellow East Tennessean. He gives all of us a bad name," District 14 Council member Jordan Huffman said. "His comments are hateful; his actions are harmful."

District 33 Council member Antoinette Lee, presumably referring to the Metro Council, said entities speaking up and saying no might "help folks who are doing these harmful actions think twice."

Signs of disagreement

Debate over Lower Broadway signage has gripped city hall before.

In January 2019, Nashville's council debated approval of a 20-foot neon sign featuring a guitar with a base shaped like a woman's buttocks for Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse.

The council ultimately approved the sign 27-3, with three abstentions, but not without voicing their distaste.

"This one I feel crosses the line between good taste, family-friendliness, and I think what we would like Nashville to portray to people who come to visit us," then-Council member Kathleen Murphy said.

That legislation was sponsored by then-District 19 Council member Freddie O'Connell, now Nashville's mayor. Former Nashville Mayor John Cooper, then an at-large council member, voted against the measure, as did Lee, who was then serving her first term.

Some council members who took issue with the sign relented after then-Metro Council attorney Mike Jameson advised that rejecting Rock's sign due to vulgarity or obscenity could lead to a First Amendment lawsuit.

Metro Council members did not discuss the applicability of the First Amendment or potential legal challenges before voting Tuesday.

How Metro Nashville councilmembers voted:

In favor: Jacob Kupin, Jennifer Webb and Jeff Eslick

Opposed: Zulfat Suara, Delishia Porterfield, Quin Evans-Segall, Burkley Allen, Olivia Hill, Joy Smith Kimbrough, Jennifer Gamble, Clay Capp, Emily Benedict, Deonte Harrell, Erin Evans, Russ Bradford, Jordan Huffman, Terry Vo, Tom Cash, Rollin Horton, Brandon Taylor, Sheri Weiner, Thom Druffel, Brenda Gadd, Jeff Preptit, Bob Nash, David Benton, Tasha Ellis, Sandra Sepulveda, John Rutherford, Joy Styles, Antoinette Lee, Sandy Ewing and Jason Spain

Abstained: Kyonzte Toombs, Mike Cortese, Jeff Gregg and Courtney Johnston

Recused: Sean Parker

Audrey Gibbs, Kirsten Fiscus and Marcus K. Dowling contributed.