You really can't make this stuff up. Morgan Wallen is pushing forward with his plans to open a bar in Nashville after his recent arrest. Authorities arrested Wallen for allegedly throwing a chair off Eric Church's bar.
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Wallen plans to open a six-story bar called This Bar in Music City. We encourage future customers to bring their own chars. I kid, but Wallen is serious about the venture.
"I sing about finding myself in 'this bar' and now it's coming to life. This venue will hold true to everything I love and is inspired by my fans. And the way they have embraced me and my music," Wallen said in a press release. "We're designing a menu around some of my family favorites. So it brings a piece of East Tennessee to Music City. I hope This Bar is a place you'll want to find yourself in and make memories with your friends and family and celebrate the way country music has brought us all together."
So will Wallen's latest charges affect the bar? If anything, PR experts think Wallen's arrest will only help the bar and make it more popular.
"Wallen's image is largely tied to a rowdy, hard-singing, harder-drinking, good ol' boy. An arrest for an incident like this, which presumably came at the end of a night of partying, will arguably drive even more traffic to his bar," Doug Eldridge, a public relations expert from Achilles PR, told Fox News Digital.
Morgan Wallen To Open Bar
"I say that because of the nature of 'bar marketing' as well as the general environment and atmosphere in Nashville these days," he continued. "By contrast, if he was launching a children's book or doing some type of outward-facing philanthropy, his recent arrest would have a more damning effect."
Likewise, the PR expert compared Wallen to a modern-day Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard. He argued that Wallen is following in their trajectory. His rough image actually makes him more popular with fans.
"While some fans are certainly disappointed, I would argue this is literally part of his brand," Eldridge said. "It's not quite at the level of Cash, Haggard and the days of Outlaw Country, but it's certainly in that ilk."
He continued, "By contrast, when Tiger Woods' affairs came to light, it decimated his sponsorship portfolio. Why? Because Tiger's image and brand were centered around being a family man, a buttoned-up person and the best golfer on the planet," Eldridge continued. "The allegations of partying, drug use and rampant infidelity were a broadside torpedo to the core values that sponsors banked on when making Woods one of the highest-paid athletes on the planet."
