NEED TO KNOW
Morgan Wallen wanted to make sure his 2024 mugshot looked a bit more composed than his 2020 one, according to recently released footage from the former arrest.
In the clip, Wallen, 32, can be seen chatting with officers after he was arrested and brought to a local police precinct in Nashville for booking. Throughout the interaction, Wallen remained cordial with officers, but there was one constant conversational focal point the star wanted to make sure was in order before he was processed for the arrest: his appearance.
“And you say you have been arrested here before? There’s your picture if you want to see it from last time” An officer asked Wallen, who replied, “Do I gotta take another picture?”
In 2020, Wallen was arrested in Nashville on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct after being kicked out of Kid Rock’s bar. The charges were later dropped, but the star’s mugshot, which featured him smiling with a messy head of hair, quickly went viral online.
“Yeah, they’ll probably take an updated picture of you,” the officer shared in the footage from Wallen’s 2024 arrest, to which the singer quickly retorted, “Can you make sure I got my hair looking decent?”
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“Yeah, I’ll try to,” the officer said after a chuckle, adding, “You’ll have to ask the DCSO [Davidson County Sheriff’s Office] guys.
Wallen, chuckling, then asked the officer, “You got a comb?”
The officer replied, “I actually do. I’ll try to help you out. You may be the first arrest at Chief’s.”
After letting Wallen, who requested to use the bathroom, out of their squad car, officers re-handcuffed him with his arms in front of his body and handed him a comb to tidy up his hair with.
In later footage shared from after he went to the bathroom, a clip can be seen of the star in the back of a police squad car, asking officers through laughter, “How do I look, man?” To which the officer replied, “Good.” Wallen then added, “I’m gonna smile this time, too. Should I smile? I’m a lot happier than I was then. I used to be mad. I’m not no more. You ever been mad?”
“Oh yeah,” the officer replied, leading Wallen to further question, “At the world? Me too.”
Though, he then pivoted and maintained, “I’m not anymore. I went to church for [the] fourth time in a row today.”
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Wallen was arrested and charged with felony reckless endangerment for the 2024 incident, a charge that was later reduced to two misdemeanor counts. In December 2024, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven days in a DUI education center, as well as two years of supervised probation.
“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,” his attorney Worrick Robinson IV said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time.
On April 19, 2024, Wallen released a statement about the incident on X, writing, “I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility.”
PEOPLE reached out to representatives for Wallen for further comment on the star’s remarks made during the recently released arrest footage, but they did not immediately respond.
