Country music icon Morgan Wallen on Monday announced what appears to be his first major brand deal since his near-exile from the mainstream music industry in 2021.
Wallen sent a text to his community group, sharing the “exciting news” that he’s teaming up with a new iced tea brand called Ryl Tea. “I found this product last summer and have been hooked,” he explained in the message.
“It[s] a zero sugar ice [sic] tea made with all natural ingredients and it reminds me of the iced tea I used to drink growing up as a kid at my mamaw’s house,” he continued in the message, adding a link to an exclusive giveaway from the brand.
Screenshot/DailyCaller
As of Monday morning, Ryl Tea barely has 6,000 Instagram followers, something that is sure to change now that the biggest star in country music is supporting the brand. The partnership could also help Wallen, who’s been short on endorsements since almost losing his career in 2021. In fact, as far as I can tell, Ryl is his first new brand partnership since the incident.
Wallen was filmed by a neighbor using a racial slur during a heated situation with friends. Despite doing a lot of work to learn from and apologize for his mistakes, he is still largely a pariah within the mainstream industry. (RELATED: The Music Industry Will Hate How Much Sway Morgan Wallen Has Over Young Americans)
Not having the backing of the mainstream hasn’t really hurt Wallen’s career, though. He’s the top selling country music artist of 2023 so far, and broke more records than we could count throughout 2022.