Jimmie Allen Duets with Morgan Wallen During Nashville Dangerous: The Tour Stop

Moving on?

Jimmie Allen was among the artists joining Morgan Wallen on stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena Wednesday — night one of Wallen's three-night stand at Music City's largest indoor venue. Allen's surprise appearance comes approximately 13 months after Wallen was caught on video drunk and using a racial slur.

It's the first time the men have shared the stage for a performance since the February 2021 controversy — but it wasn't shocking. Allen has long said he wanted to help Wallen understand the gravity of his word choice.

Wallen, 28, disappeared from public view after the controversy, and his record label suspended his contract. He was removed from radio airplay, dropped by his agency, and disqualified from the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards and the 2021 Country Music Association Awards. He apologized, saying: "I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better."

In July, he told Good Morning America's Michael Strahan that he checked into a rehabilitation center after the incident and has since eased back into his public life.

However, he continued to attract criticism for not publicly doing more to atone for his actions. Allen, 36, was never among Wallen's harshest critics. The "Freedom Was a Highway" singer told Bobby Bones on the radio personality's podcast that he reached out to Wallen directly during the height of the public backlash.

"If we want to make the world a better place, we have to do the work, and the work is putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations," Allen said. "When Morgan said what he said, I had two choices: I could yell at him and bash at him on social media, or I could take some time and really process the whole thing, and look at who Morgan is, look at Morgan's state of mind when he said that, look at Morgan's history."

Allen said he wanted to help Wallen understand why what he said was offensive — although he wasn't personally alarmed, he reached out, and the men talked daily with Allen sharing his perspective. The singer explained that the frequent use of the slur in some music and movies means it is "subconsciously embedded" in people's minds.

"True, you know, you shouldn't say it," Allen said. "But at the same time, just because I don't agree with what he said doesn't mean I should banish him."

Wednesday night, the men had very little dialogue on stage but palled around in the spotlight singing Wallen's 2017 song "The Way I Talk." Wallen was also joined by Brooks & Dunn's Ronnie Dunn, HARDY, Larry Fleet and ERNEST at various times during the show.

Allen's public endorsement of Wallen came the week after he co-hosted the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards, on which Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album won the prestigious album of the year. The Sneedville, Tennessee, native appeared stunned and emotional by the acknowledgment.

"When I started this album, I was a kid. By the time I put it out, I was a father," said Wallen, dad to 20-month-old son Indigo Wilder with ex-girlfriend KT Smith, in his acceptance speech. "That's become more important to me than anything else. To my son, this album and this award will signify that his daddy was a fighter, and he chased his dreams and worked hard to make them a reality."

It's a sentiment to which Allen can relate. Allen is the father of three, and when Wallen's language landed him in trouble, Allen said he wanted to help for the sake of their children.

"How do we handle this alcohol situation? How do we handle your outbursts? How do we handle the reckless behavior?" Allen said he asked Wallen, who made headlines in 2020 for excessive public intoxication. "There's so many (more) things than just the N-word, and I feel like everyone was just focused on that. This is a guy, a fellow country artist, that we've seen struggling for years. And no one cared until he said the N-word. He's been a person the whole time, with a problem."