Morgan Wallen is the latest artist to grace the cover of Billboard magazine.
In the latest issue, arriving December 9, the global superstar candidly reflected on his life, 2021's racial slur, career setbacks, personal growth, fatherhood, crossover success and more.
"There’s no excuse. I’ve never made an excuse. I never will make an excuse," Morgan says of using the slur, which TMZ published on video. "I've talked to a lot of people, heard stories [about] things that I would have never thought about because I wasn't the one going through it. And I think, for me, in my heart I was never that guy that people were portraying me to be, so there was a little bit of like, 'Damn, I’m kind of actually mad about this a little bit because I know I shouldn’t have said this, but I’m really not that guy.'"
"I put myself in just such a s*** spot, you know?" he continues. "Like, 'You really messed up here, guy.' If I was that guy, then I wouldn't have cared. I wouldn't have apologized. I wouldn't have done any of that if I really was that guy that people were saying about me."
Of his lack of CMA Award wins, including this year's losses despite the success of One Thing at a Time and his headlining tour, Morgan said they "bothered me for like five minutes." "And then I’m like, ‘Why am I mad? I’m about to go play for 80,000 people in Atlanta,'" he recounts.
You can check out Morgan's full feature interview now at Billboard's website.