The country superstar Morgan Wallen pleaded guilty on Thursday in a Nashville courtroom to misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges stemming from an arrest in April, in which he was accused of throwing a chair from the sixth-story roof of a downtown bar.
In exchange for prosecutors dropping the felony counts of reckless endangerment against Mr. Wallen, the singer, 31, entered a plea agreement that requires him to spend seven days at a D.U.I. education center and be on probation for two years.
“Upon the successful completion of his probation, the charges will be eligible for dismissal and expungement,” Worrick Robinson IV, a lawyer for Mr. Wallen, said in a statement following the court appearance. “Mr. Wallen has cooperated fully with authorities throughout these last eight months, directly communicating and apologizing to all involved. Mr. Wallen remains committed to making a positive impact through his music and foundation.”
The chart-topping performer had just opened his latest blockbuster stadium tour earlier this year when he was arrested and charged for throwing the chair from atop Chief’s, a bar on lower Broadway owned by a fellow country star, Eric Church. The chair landed near Nashville police officers, authorities said, and staff members at Chief’s told them Mr. Wallen was responsible.
Mr. Wallen was previously arrested and charged in May 2020 with public intoxication and disorderly conduct in downtown Nashville. Months later, he was dropped from an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” for not following Covid-19 protocols after social media footage showed him doing shots and kissing fans at a bar in the lead-up to his appearance.
The next year, immediately following the release of his breakout album, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” Mr. Wallen faced widespread but temporary industry backlash when TMZ published a video of him referring to a friend with a racial slur. Mr. Wallen cited a night of hard drinking for his “ignorant” language, calling it “hour 72 of a 72-hour bender,” and said he checked himself into rehab for 30 days following the incident.
“You know, just trying to figure it out,” Mr. Wallen said on “Good Morning America” as he returned to the spotlight. “Why am I acting this way? Do I have an alcohol problem? Do I have a deeper issue?”
His next album, “One Thing at a Time,” did not suffer commercially, spending a total of 19 weeks at No. 1. Last month, he won entertainer of the year, the top honor, at the Country Music Association Awards, though he did not attend the ceremony.
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