Was Morgan Wallen at the CMT Awards?

Kicking off his One Night At A Time World Tour earlier this week, “Last Night” singer Morgan Wallen quickly found himself in some hot water last night (April 7) after an outing at Chief’s, Eric Church’s brand new Nashville bar, where he found himself in the back of a cop car by the end of the evening. Teasing a collaboration with world-renowned superstar Post Malone — as well as some other soon-to-be hit songs — it looks like Wallen was gearing up for a prosperous 2024, however, this unexpected arrest undoubtedly put a wrench in his plans…

According to witnesses, the Tennessee native tossed a chair from the rooftop of the six-story bar, causing it to plummet to the sidewalk below, where it could have struck passersby. Wallen found himself unlucky, as the chair landed just three feet away from some Metro Nashville Police Department officers, who swiftly took him into custody after the incident.

In a statement to Billboard, Worrick Robinson of Worrick Robinson Law — who serves as Morgan Wallen’s attorney — confirmed that the country crooner was indeed arrested, admitting fault for the situation: “At 10:53p Sunday evening Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities.”

With the infamous chair-throw occurring around 10:45pm CT, Wallen was in custody between midnight and 3:30am CT, posting $15,250 in bond to secure his release sooner rather than later.

While he is able to continue his tour as of right now, future court dates may impact his One Night At A Time World Tour after all, notably his performance in his home state of Tennessee. The “You Proof” singer is slated to appear in court on May 3, the same day that he is scheduled to play Nissan Stadium in Music City, so it will be interesting to see whether or not future Nashville shows get rescheduled.

All of this madness occurred in the evening of April 7 in Nashville, Tennessee, during one of the biggest nights in the country music — the 2024 CMT Music Awards was occurring simultaneously in Austin, Texas. Because of this, country music lovers cannot help but wonder whether Wallen was at the CMT Awards and swiftly traveled back to Tennessee, or if he boycotted the award show as a whole. Fortunately, we got you covered. Keep scrolling for the nitty gritty details…

Was Morgan Wallen at the CMT Awards?

Believe it or not, Wallen was not invited to the 2024 CMT Music Awards, despite being one of the biggest names in the industry as of late.

In 2021, CMT made the decision to remove the country crooner’s tunes from all of their platforms following his racism controversy, which occurred when TMZ shared a video of him drunkenly using a racial slur after a night out on the town. Despite taking accountability and sharing the statement “There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better” via social media, Wallen suffered a great deal of consequences after this incident — being pulled from country radio, being suspended from his record label, being banned from performing at the 2021 American Music Awards, and more — and CMT also penalized the “Whiskey Glasses” singer.

“We do not tolerate or condone words and actions that are in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity & inclusion,” CMT shared via social media, implementing a ban against Morgan Wallen that has remained in effect for three years and counting.

The 2024 CMT Music Awards

While Wallen was not in attendance at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, the show was a smash hit nonetheless, hosted by Kelsea Ballerini, and featuring performances from Jelly Roll, Bailey Zimmerman, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, Sam Hunt, Dasha, Jason Aldean, Megan Moroney, Trisha Yearwood, and more. In addition to this, Parker McCollum and Brittney Spencer teamed up to perform “Burn It Down,” while Old Dominion and Megan Moroney teamed up to perform “Can’t Break Up Now,” among other collaborations.

To top off the already incredible evening, Brooks & Dunn, Lainey Wilson, and Sammy Hagar joined forces to honor the late Toby Keith, singing “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “I Love This Bar” and “How Do You Like Me Now?” in a tear-jerking tribute to the future Country Music Hall of Famer.

As far as awards go, Jelly Roll was the big winner at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, taking home the trophies for Video of the Year, Male Video of the Year, and CMT Performance of the Year, all for his smash hit titled “Need A Favor,” making him the winningest artist of the evening. Other awards went to stars like Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, Ashley Cooke, Warren Zeiders, and more.