Weverse Magazine Under Fire For Article About Controversial Artist Morgan Wallen

Netizens question language used surrounding Wallen’s 2021 controversy.

Weverse Magazine was created as a companion site to Weverse, a fan community app created by HYBE Corporation, and currently hosts a collection of exclusive interviews, features, playlists, and music reviews for K-Pop’s hottest artists and global music stars.

One of Weverse Magazine‘s most recent features is under fire from fans for spotlighting controversial American country music artist Morgan Wallen.

Morgan Wallen | Weverse Magazine

Many fans felt that the language in the article downplayed the severity of the artist using a racial slur in 2021. In the 2021 video filmed from Wallen’s neighbor’s home, Wallen was seen and heard yelling at his friends, speaking about someone while using multiple profanities and the N-word, a racial slur used against Black people that the country singer admitted in a resulting interview he used “around a certain group of friends and didn’t realize the implications it could have.

Wallen’s actions resulted in his label suspending his contract, his music being pulled from airplay on radio stations across America and multiple streaming services, and a ban from the 2021 American Music Awards.

After the Weverse Magazine article listed the consequences of Wallen’s use of the racial slur, it acknowledged the fact that Wallen seemed to become more popular after his 2021 video was released.

But after this rocky period, Wallen won the hearts and streams of listeners. People who had grown tired of the finger-pointing and backlash of “cancel culture” started listening to his music more and more… As controversy surrounding the singer grew, his popularity only soared.

— Weverse Magazine

The article refers to Wallen as a “troublemaker” and “a breath of fresh air in a genre that hasn’t seen any new superstars since Taylor Swift, in that he’s putting out enjoyable music while disrupting the game with huge commercial success along the way,” which many feel is a flippant disregard of the harmfulness of Wallen’s casual use of the racial slur when Weverse strives to connect artists to a proud and diverse group of fans.

Netizens are overwhelmingly disappointed in the direction Weverse Magazine is taking and are calling on the virtual magazine and HYBE to thoughtfully consider the artists they promote on their platform and the message it sends to its diverse global audience.

Source: Weverse Magazine and Entertainment Weekly