From one mullet to another…
Seriously though, Theo Von might have the best Tennessee Top Hat in the game.
If you’re not familiar with the stand-up comedy world, first of all… you should be. We could all use a laugh every now and then. But more importantly, Theo is one of the funniest dudes on planet Earth. Between is his stand-up, his podcast This Past Weekend, and even some of his conversations on the Joe Rogan Experience, the man has had me howling more than a few times.
He also moved to Nashville in the past year, so some of his recent podcast guests have included artists in the country music world. Travis Tritt, Kane Brown, and Morgan Wallen were all featured, as well as Hardy and Ernest who joined Morgan’s episode for a bit.
But more recently, fellow comedian/actor Bryan Callen joined the show and inquired about the Morgan Wallen racial slur incident:
Theo, who calls Morgan a friend, pointed out that tons of media outlets that would never, ever discuss Morgan’s music couldn’t wait to publish dozens of articles about it, perpetuating even more use of the n-word:
“The media did what they did, they ripped him up… what got me was that suddenly there were news articles that would never even watch Morgan, and they’re using it in their titling… the n-word, the n-word… so they’re basically using the n-word to get you…”
Callen injected, pointing out the obvious… it’s all about money:
“The white press makes money by getting clicks… they go ‘I can get this story, awesome’… there’s money in clicks.”
He ain’t wrong.
As somebody that works in media (duh), controversy gets clicks, negativity gets clicks, and in general, when bad things happen, it gets clicks. Why is it so damn hard to turn on the news these days? Because it’s terribly, terribly negative. Why is that? Because that is what gets people to tune in.
Theo then concluded the clip by sharing his own opinion, based on his personal interactions with Morgan.
“He’s a great kid. I was at his house a couple nights before the video stuff and there were black guys over there with him… I’ve seen racist people and he’s not a racist guy. And that’s obvious to most people with a brain.”
Theo joins Jason Aldean and Jimmie Allen among those who have recently voiced their support for Morgan. And while I don’t think anybody is going to condone what Morgan said, as more and more colleagues in the entertainment industry continue to speak favorably about Morgan, you would think it’s only a matter of time before he makes a return to the country music spotlight.
As of right now, Morgan is set to headline Country Stampede Festival in June.
Morgan Wallen was recently a guest on Theo’s podcast, you can watch the full episode below:
And one more thing…
