Maren Morris Says Her Family Received ‘Scary’ Death Threats After She Called Out Morgan Wallen

Maren Morris went through a scary time period after she called out Morgan Wallen three years ago, especially where her young son was concerned.

In a new interview on the Work in Progress podcast posted Thursday (Aug. 29), the 34-year-old musician opened up about the backlash she received immediately after slamming the “Last Night” singer for using a racial slur in 2021. “I mean, the death threat portion for me as a young mother was obviously scary,” Morris told host Sophia Bush. “And it wasn’t death threats against me. It was against my son, too. So it’s like, ‘Oh, wow. Now we’re involving the kids, the ones that you cared so much about.’”

Morris’ son Hayes — whom she shares with her ex-husband, songwriter Ryan Hurd — was less than a year old when a video of Wallen using the N-word began circulating. The “Cut!” singer joined Kelsea Ballerini, Mickey Guyton and more country stars in admonishing the behavior by tweeting: “We all know it wasn’t his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse.”

“You’re like, ‘How are people this pissed over the criticism of cruelty?’” Morris reflected of the negative responses her tweet received on Work in Progress. “I think it’s because they’re not only defending the person that said this, but they’re taking it personally as if I’m criticizing them, which I think says a lot more about their interpretation of criticism — and what that content was — than me as a person calling out someone using the N word, or even transphobia s–t I’ve criticized in the past.”

For his part, Wallen apologized one week after the video went viral. “The video you saw was me on hour 72 of 72 of a bender, and that’s not something I’m proud of,” he said in a video statement. “I accepted some invitations from some amazing Black organizations, some executives and leaders, to engage in some very real and honest conversations.”

As for Morris? She stands by what she said. “I don’t regret it, I don’t apologize,” she added on the podcast. “I feel the exact same way as I did that day … Don’t be racist. Don’t be transphobic. Don’t be homophobic.”

Listen to Morris’ conversation on Work in Progress below.