Morgan Wallen‘s mom is not having it. The country singer’s mother took to Instagram last week to do some mama bear-ing after the Nashville Metro City Council voted to deny the singer’s request to install a large exterior sign (or “aerial encroachment” as they put it) for his soon-to-open This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen due to the country star’s past incidents.
“Way to go Morgan, the city of Nashville says ‘Thank you for all of your help bringing in millions of revenue,’” Lesli Wallen posted on the Country Chord Instagram feed alongside a recent headline reading, “Morgan Wallen throws major shade at Nashville Councilman Jordan Huffman who says he doesn’t ‘belong in town.’” The second slide was one her son had reportedly shared on his Insta Story after the vote with an aerial view of one of his recent sold-out series of three shows at the city’s 69,000-capacity Nissan Stadium.
On May 21, council members gave a “no” to the restaurant’s development company’s application to put a 20-foot-tall external sign advertising the latest celeb-themed eatery in the city’s downtown. Thirty members of the council voted against the sign, with only three members voting in favor of it and four abstaining. A few of the council members cited Wallen’s past controversial incidents — including his use of a racial slur in January 2021 and his arrest on felony charges last month for throwing a chair off the six-story roof off of Eric Church’s Chief’s bar — as reasons for rejecting the sign.
Councilwoman at Large Delisha Porterfield was among those who referenced Morgan’s past behavior in rejecting the sign.
The establishment was originally slated to open over the Memorial Day weekend, but as of Tuesday no new grand opening date had been announced yet. “We want to make sure that Nashville was a supportive place for everyone, so I don’t want to see a billboard with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs, using the n-word, so I’m voting no,” Porterfield wrote.
Wallen was arrested in April on three felony charges of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct after he allegedly threw a chair off the roof, an incident Porterfield referenced in an X post. “We just voted down a resolution allowing an Aerial Encroachment with Morgan Wallen’s name on it,” she said. “Yes THAT Morgan Wallen. The one who throws chairs & uses racial slurs. Nope! No thank you. Try that in a small town….better yet….don’t try it all,” she added, with the “small town” bit a seeming reference to Jason Aldean’s controversial 2023 single “Try That in a Small Town.”
At press time the restaurant’s Instagram account still said it was “coming soon,” with fans commenting that they were disappointed by the delay.
Check out Lesli Wallen’s comment below.
