Luke Combs has apologized for his past use of the Confederate flag in both photos and a video he appeared in six years ago. During a virtual Country Radio Seminar panel in Nashville yesterday (Wednesday, Feb. 17th), Luke said, “As I've grown in my time as an artist, and as the world has changed drastically in the last five to seven years, I am now aware how painful that image can be . . . I would never want to be associated with something that brings so much hurt to someone else.”
According to The Tennessean, the conversation was about “accountability and the future of country music,” which also featured Maren Morris.
Back in 2015, Luke was featured in the video for Ryan Upchurch's “Can I Get a Outlaw” in which he was seen performing in front of several Confederate flags. His guitar at the time also included stickers with the flag. In the wake of the Morgan Wallen racism controversy, photos of Luke playing that guitar and standing in front of the flag have made the rounds on social media.
Luke said, “There's no excuse for those images,” adding that at that time, he didn't fully understand what the flag meant.
Maren also admitted to being criticized for her last album, Girl, due to its R&B influence and her lack of featuring any Black artists. She said, “I have got to correct that and acknowledge that. Yeah, absolutely, cultural appropriation, culture 'vulturing' is a real thing. I love country music so much. I have my version of it, of what I make. And I think that going forward, I just want to pay respect to the people that actually built it for me.”
