Country music superstar sentenced for chair-throwing bar antics
Morgan Wallen, the controversial chart-topping country music star, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of reckless endangerment for throwing a chair off the roof of a downtown Nashville bar earlier this year, according to media reports.
Wallen received a suspended sentence of about two years – 11 months and 29 days – for each count, “except seven days incarceration which will be served in a DUI Education Center,” Judge Cynthia Chappell told Wallen during a hearing Thursday in Tennessee’s Davidson County. “The remainder of that sentence will be served on supervised probation.”
Chappell described the state’s DUI Education Center as an “alternative sentencing option” that offers support for mental health and substance abuse, according to The Washington Post. The judge added that Wallen can eventually move to expunge the public record of the offenses if he successfully completes the terms, and has no other run-ins with the law, the report said.
The 31-year-old is also responsible for a $350 fine and court fees, the report added.
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While the publication said that Wallen himself remained tight-lipped during his court appearance – other than to respond with the occasional “no, ma’am” and “yes, ma’am” – his attorney said in a statement that the country-pop singer, who’s achieved huge streaming success and won the coveted “Entertainer of the Year” title at this year’s County Music Awards, apologized “to all involved.”
“Mr. Wallen has cooperated fully with authorities throughout these last eight months, directly communicating and apologizing to all involved," Robinson said in a statement to the Post on Thursday. "Mr. Wallen remains committed to making a positive impact through his music and foundation."
Footage released of the April incident that sparked Wallen’s arrest shows a chair being flung over the edge of Chief’s six-story rooftop bar. The chair landed in front of Nashville Police Department officers, according to local media reports.