Why did Tate McRae face backlash for Morgan Wallen collab? Reason explored as ‘Greedy’ singer breaks silence on the matter

For almost a year, Tate McRae has sat at the centre of global pop culture after racking up chart-topping hits, scoring a No. 1 single on the Billboard 200 albums chart and receiving widespread acclaim for her Miss Possessive tour.

But after her commercial breakthrough, one controversy kept following the rising star, an unlikely collaboration with country singer Morgan Wallen.

Now, in a new Rolling Stone cover story, McRae has opened up about the backlash, and why she made the choice in the first place.

Tate McRae featured on “What I Want,” a song from Wallen’s latest record I’m the Problem. Despite the song having commercial success, fans had much to say when the collaboration was first revealed.

Tate McRae tells Rolling Stone that she does not regret her collaboration with Morgan Wallen:

“But I honestly just got the opportunity to do a country song, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ And I wanted to cross genres really bad. It was just about the song for me. I didn’t… pic.twitter.com/mi1B2SZRaN

— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 11, 2025

A lot of the criticism focused on Wallen’s history of public embarrassments, including an episode in May 2021 when he was videoed using a racial slur and a 2024 arrest after he threw a chair from a rooftop bar, narrowly missing police officers.

Even though he has apologized and continues to be beloved within the country music industry, Wallen is a polarizing figure.

Therefore, McRae’s connection to Wallen seemed almost like an endorsement, or at least a dismissal off, of his previous behaviour.

Some fans online expressed disappointment, while others questioned her political views. Memes went around speculating McRae's cultural stance, although McRae has never made public what she thinks politically.

Tate McRae recent interview with Rolling Stone

Tate McRae explained to Rolling Stone that the decision to team up was simply thanks to musical curiosity and her interest with country music.

The singer, who grew up in Calgary, used to go to the annual Calgary Stampede and was immersed in the genre throughout her childhood due, in part, to her brother’s love of country music.

She said that she'd always wanted to try country or folk at some stage in her career.

For McRae, the opportunity to record “What I Want” was an exciting creative opportunity, not a political statement.

“It was just about the song for me,” she said, conceding that she didn’t foresee the extent to which people would interpret the collaboration as an endorsement of Wallen’s previous behavior.

"I’ve always wanted, at some point in my life, to do folk music or country, and I probably still will in the future. But I honestly just got the opportunity to do a country song, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ And I wanted to cross genres really bad... I didn’t realize how much a song would be connected to all the other factors, and it really shocked me," she added.

But, criticism aside, Tate McRae has no regrets. She said there is worth in everything, even the difficulties, as long as it contributes to the formation of her artistic identity and personal evolution.

Even though she hasn’t met Wallen in real life, she says that working with artists from different circles factored into her growth as an artist.

As Tate McRae scores more career firsts, including a Billboard 200 No. 1 with her album So Close to What in 2025, the controversy over the Wallen duet represents a reminder of how quickly public opinion can pivot.