Morgan Wallen says family, friends, fatherhood helped him grow in the wake of his racist slur scandal

Morgan Wallen made his return to the awards show spotlight at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards over the weekend, performing two songs — “Don’t Think Jesus” and “Wasted on You” — and bringing home the award for Top Country Male Artist.

It was his first performance since a video of him yelling a racist slur emerged in early 2021. Since then, he’s been barred from many mainstream awards shows and other music industry platforms.

But at the BBMAs, Morgan walked the red carpet with his mom, Lesli, and credited the people closest to him for helping change his perspective amid the scandal.

“My family, my friends and just a really good team,” the singer replied to ET Online when asked who most helped him get through the past couple of years. “My kid. I’ve had a lot of really positive things going on behind the scenes, that maybe weren’t necessarily brought to light.”

He continued, “I’ve been able to get to a good place because of all that.”

Morgan also expressed his gratitude for the support he’s received from his fellow country artists, such as Jason Aldean and Hardy.

“Everybody tells you they’re your friends when everything’s good, so it’s really nice to have people who really mean that,” he said.

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