Country star Morgan Wallen arrested in Nashville at Eric Church's Chief's for throwing chair: Police
Eleven-time 2023 Billboard Music Award-winning country music performer Morgan Wallen was arrested late Sunday at Chief's, the six-story Nashville honky-tonk recently opened by his business partner and longtime confidant Eric Church.
Wallen has been charged with three counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct.
In a police report, the 30-year-old singer was accused of throwing a chair from the establishment's rooftop down to the street below while the bar just before 11 p.m. Metro Nashville police officers were standing in front of the bar and saw the chair hit the ground just feet from where they were standing, the report said.
Officers who viewed security footage saw Wallen "lunging and throwing an object over the roof," the report said.
Witnesses said Wallen laughed afterward.
In a statement issued to the Tennessean by Wallen's representatives, Wallen's lawyer, Worrick Robinson of Worrick Robinson Law, noted, "At 10:53 p.m. CT Sunday evening, Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities."
Wallen was released around 3:30 a.m. Monday on $15,250 bond. He is due in court on May 3, a date that coincides with one of three planned concert dates at Nashville's Nissan Stadium. The singer is scheduled to perform there May 2-4.
No statement has been issued yet about the April 20, 2024, make-up date for his canceled 2023 appearance at Oxford, Mississippi's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium or if his headlining appearance at the Stagecoach Festival on April 28 will be canceled in light of his recent arrest.
Last year, Wallen said he needed vocal rest on April 24, 2023 and canceled that show. It was only 11 dates into his seven-month global tour. He refunded the cost of the tickets.
"I am so sorry, I promise you guys I tried everything I could," he said at the time.
Morgan Wallen's history with Lower Broadway
Wallen has a history of run-ins with the law on Lower Broadway.
On May 24, 2020, Wallen was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct outside of Kid Rock's honky-tonk in downtown Nashville.
In the arrest warrant, the Metro Nashville Police Department said Wallen got kicked out of Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse at about 11 p.m. for "kicking glass items." On the street, police said he verbally fought with passersby while officers watched.
"Officers gave (Wallen) several opportunities to walk away with his friends, but he refused to walk away," Metro said at the time, noting that he was "a danger to himself and the public."
Wallen recently announced that he will open a Nashville bar called 'This Bar' in 2024 to pay homage to his Tennessee roots. The six-story establishment will be located at 107 4th Avenue North on Lower Broadway and is planned as a live music venue and restaurant.
The bar's title comes from Wallen's 2019 song of the same name, where he sings, "I found myself in this bar / Making mistakes and making new friends."
In a press release announcing the opening, Wallen said, “I sing about finding myself in 'This Bar,' and now it's coming to life. This venue will hold true to everything I love and is inspired by my fans and the way they have embraced me and my music."
Morgan Wallen's 2024 at-present
Sunday saw Wallen not attending CMT's 2024 Music Awards in Austin, Texas.
In response to a 2021 controversy surrounding him being recorded while drunkenly using a racial slur in front of his home, CMT had removed Wallen's music from all of their platforms.
"We do not tolerate or condone words and actions that are in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity & inclusion," CMT representatives said via social media.
Wallen was at Chief's after returning to Nashville from a headlining domestic kick-off for his nationwide "One Night at a Time" tour at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium on April 4 and 5. Attendance for both of those dates set the venue's attendance record.
Church and Wallen's business interests
Chief's opened on April 5 with the first night of the venue's Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year namesake's "To Beat The Devil" residency. The event was held in the intimate, 400-person Neon Steeple venue.
Church's venue was announced in early 2022, with AJ Capital leading the renovation.
AJ Capital has become a leading real estate developer in Music City during the past decade.
Collaborations with Church for Chief's and Wallen, via his Morgan Wallen Foundation and donors, including Church (via the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the Chief Cares Fund) to work on the renovation of North Nashville's historic Club Baron venue are two ways in which they have recently engaged with Nashville's music community.
Also, Church and Wallen recently announced a partnership to acquire and relaunch the 152-year-old Field & Stream outdoor lifestyle brand.
Among the pair's forthcoming Field & Stream-branded concepts are a limited-edition apparel collection and the announcement of an outdoor fall "Field & Stream Music Festival" co-produced by Southern Entertainment.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Morgan Wallen arrested at Nashville bar for reportedly throwing chair
