Once upon a time, back in the glory days of Old Nashville, our fair city had a single-term mayor so beset by scandal and notoriety that a newly established alternative-weekly newspaper called the Nashville Scene made him the namesake of an annual list of public screw-ups.
From an ill-advised tequila heist to a Clapton fan ditching her britches, here’s our roundup of 2025’s Boner Award-worthy small-time crime
Little did any of us know that 36 years later, the Scene would still be issuing Boner Awards, named for the aforementioned Mayor Bill Boner. But as the years go by, Nashville’s elected leaders, country stars and other public figures keep managing to biff it badly. This year’s issue features a fine crop of Boners: onstage meltdowns from country (and rap-rock) stars who ought to know better, ineptitude and infighting from the state’s Republican supermajority, political showboating from clout-chasing wannabe congressional representatives, a small-town mayor causing a power outage due to a sausage biscuit. (Yes, that last one is real. Everything you read in this issue is real.)
Read on for a list of this year’s biggest screw-ups, compiled by the Scene’s editorial staff. See also: our petty-crime roundup, in which former staffer and current contributor J.R. Lind highlights some of the dopes and ding-a-lings arrested for Boner-worthy criminal behavior in 2025.
Out to Lunch
Political choices don’t get more clear-cut than feeding low-income children with a multibillion-dollar rainy-day fund. And days don’t get rainier than when partisan gridlock shuts down the federal government — in this case for 43 days, threatening critical public lifelines like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee still somehow bungled his moment, refusing to address widespread child hunger looming on the horizon as October turned into November and SNAP benefits ran dry for 690,000 Tennesseans. Imagine the bighearted triumph of a practical Tennessean besting D.C.’s layabouts with a proverbial stroke of his pen, just in time for the Thanksgiving season. Instead, Lee was busy courting economic development on a multi-country tour of Asia.
Andy Crapp, Part 2
It’s no secret that U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles is a Trump sycophant, but he’s really been diving into the deep end of manufactured outrage since the return of his dear leader. Instead of using what he’s called the “Golden Age of America” to improve the lives of average Tennesseans, Ogles has leaned into being a cheerleader for cruelty. This year’s assholery has centered on Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown. From targeting Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Belmont University with political attacks to threatening to sic the National Guard on Nashville (while racking up mounting legal fees and apparently blowing money on Chipotle), the Republican has shaken off the heat from his past FBI investigation and is apparently seeking retribution — or at least headlines. What’s more, he’s called to “denaturalize and deport” New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, and the day before the NYC mayoral election, Ogles shared a clip of the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center on 9/11, accompanied by the caption “WAKE UP NEW YORK!” When you exploit the deaths of nearly 3,000 people (mostly Americans) for cheap political points, you’re not (allegedly) “America First,” you’re (allegedly) just a dick.
A Secret Third Option
An ultimatum from the Trump administration briefly gave Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier a chance to stand on values: Either reject a sweetheart funding deal to preserve university independence, or take an inside track for federal money. Somehow Diermeier found a secret third option that perfectly captures the worst aspects of equivocating elite university culture. Pleasing no one, except perhaps himself, the school’s top decision-maker instead chose to question the question, issuing feedback and comments as part of an “ongoing dialogue” with the Oval Office about how much presidential control over campuses might be proper. Outspoken faculty and students point to several peer universities’ clear rejection of this Faustian bargain, slamming Diermeier at protests for betraying core university commitments. Diermeier can point to his 10-year contract extension, which keeps him in Kirkland Hall through 2035.
Bending the Knee to Blackburn
Professors from Middle Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University, as well as teachers from Rutherford and Williamson counties, were among those fired because of their social media comments following the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The kicker? The schools fired them because U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn told them to. As a refresher: Kirk said in the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting in Nashville — which resulted in the deaths of three children and three adults — that gun deaths are “worth it,” and just the cost of keeping our Second Amendment rights. University staff who referenced that quote and others by Kirk were dismissed at the behest of Blackburn’s social media posts. Possibly the worst bit? MTSU ran a banner across the top of the school’s website announcing a faculty member’s firing over Kirk comments, while a previous faculty dismissal — the firing of a teacher who was arrested after exposing his genitals to a teenager — did not warrant similar fanfare. Calling for the firing of constituents is a bold move for a gubernatorial candidate. We wonder if the ass-kissing will pay off when Blackburn inevitably starts running the state.
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha
Several D.C. Republicans scolded U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in November after a provision to allow Blackburn and others to sue the government (and line their pockets with taxpayer money) made its way into the bill that reopened the federal government after the longest shutdown in the nation’s history. The provision, which was later repealed, would have allowed senators to sue for up to $500,000 after the phone records of eight lawmakers, including Blackburn and fellow Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, were seized as part of the now-defunct investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (You know, that attack aimed at overturning a legal and legitimate election.) Both Hagerty and Blackburn eventually said they weren’t seeking monetary damages, only “accountability,” and supported the provision’s repeal. One of the loudest Republican voices criticizing the provision was U.S. Rep. John Rose of Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District, who is running against Blackburn in the 2026 gubernatorial Republican primary. Rose publicly urged Blackburn to not sue taxpayers. “I’m glad she’s answered the call [to repeal the provision] and she can now answer to the people from Tennessee about the backroom deal to put this into the bill,” Rose told the Knoxville News Sentinel. The public scolding served as a preview of what’s sure to be an election filled with plenty of mudslinging — and when John Rose is the one lecturing you about ethics, you know you’ve crossed a line.
These Guys Suck, Change My Mind
After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a pair of ill-meaning white boys honored the right-wing provocateur’s legacy by planting themselves in the middle of a historically Black college campus with inflammatory conservative messages like “DEI should be Illegal” and “Deport all illegals now!” Unlike Kirk, the so-called Fearless Debates duo did not obtain any kind of permission to be there, and after pissing off the student body, they were escorted off campus by security. In true conservative youth fashion, they issued a “we just wanted to talk” non-apology and claimed they didn’t know they had visited a historically Black university campus despite saying in an Instagram post that TSU was “the first HBCU that we’re visiting on the Fearless Tour!” There’s little reason to believe that the gruesome twosome was doing anything besides trolling by bringing an anti-DEI sign to TSU — an institution whose existence was made necessary due to segregation — and even less reason to call them “fearless.” Their attempt to turn undergrad outrage into easy content whiffed, exposing the vapidity of these conservative college tours.
Green Chases the Green
Former U.S. Rep. Mark Green finally left Congress over the summer (after previously announcing his early retirement and then reversing course at the behest of Trump) to chase business interests. Green decided to form a “global business development” company, Prosimos, in order to “continue that fight” against China. “If an American company doesn’t do it, a Chinese company will, and we are in a fight right now for the future of the world order,” Green told the Scene’s sister publication the Williamson Scene. Green’s midterm retirement triggered a special election in the 7th Congressional District, costing taxpayers money. Green endorsed his former Army buddy Matt Van Epps, and previously told Axios that Congress is “broken.” While that may be true, its usefulness as a springboard for politicians to enrich themselves is apparently still going strong.
Deep Pockets, Shallow Principles
State Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) came in third in October’s 7th Congressional District Republican primary — spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and earning just 4,004 total votes in the process. The self-described “culture warrior,” a lawyer by trade, has faced widespread criticism for representing several parents who have sued Williamson County Schools, with the latest suit centered on the inclusion of a transgender student in a girls-only sex-ed course. In August, Bulso told Scene sister publication the Williamson Scene that the lawsuit’s potential impact, either in hurting or helping his campaign, is “not something that I really gave any consideration to.” Days later, a Bulso political ad touted the lawsuit, reading in part, “I will not sit by while the Transgender Mob tries to erase what it means to be a woman — or a parent. That’s why I’m not just suing, I’m running for Congress.” Shameful.
Grin and Barrett
Matt Van Epps emerged victorious in a crowded Republican primary race in October, earning the GOP nomination for the vacant 7th Congressional District seat. Among the losing Republicans was Dickson state Rep. Jody Barrett, who’d secured endorsements from country musician John Rich, former UFC champion Tito Ortiz (for some reason) and even outgoing U.S. Rep. Mark Green’s ex-wife. But you know who didn’t seem to have as much confidence in Barrett as those other folks? Barrett himself, who said the following during his election night concession speech: “My campaign manager smacked me upside the head a couple of times for saying this. I didn’t really want to win this thing anyway. I never wanted to run for an office in D.C., but this was an opportunity that opened up, and a lot of people came and lifted me up and kind of pushed me to take a run at this.” Maybe one more smack upside the head would’ve done the trick — or at least convinced Barrett to keep some thoughts private.
Farmer Reaps What He Sows
During a meeting of the state House’s Criminal Justice Subcommittee in March, state Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) criticized state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) for the latter’s absence at the statehouse this year. Pearson had missed days during the session due to his brother’s death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in December 2024. Farmer’s comments made Pearson, in his own words, “very, very angry.” Pearson yelled and pointed at Farmer before approaching him as the subcommittee broke for recess. We shouldn’t have to say this, but we will just in case: Pearson’s outrage at Farmer is entirely justified. Discourse and disagreement are part of politics, but Farmer’s personal blows to Pearson and his family during a time of grief crossed a line.
Soiled Reputation
The footage of state Sen. Ken Yager’s traffic stop for drunk driving is hard to watch. While vacationing in Jekyll Island, Ga., he hit a car and left the scene — unintentionally, he says — and was pulled over. Video obtained by NewsChannel5 shows the Kingston Republican wobbling through the field sobriety test in pants that appear to be soaked with urine. The incident — which occurred in a car paid for with campaign dollars, which he refunded — jeopardized his status as the Republican Caucus chairman under the state Senate’s expulsion rules. While some constituents petitioned for him to resign, his colleagues were quiet. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, familiar with public embarrassment himself, said only that he was praying for his fellow Republican. Yager pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor, avoiding a felony conviction that would have activated expulsion proceedings. There was no intraparty reckoning, even though the GOP loves to portray itself as tough on crime. Meanwhile, a Franklin man who helped police investigate a sexual assault case is facing deportation proceedings over a 9-year-old DUI, as our sister publication the Williamson Scene reported. It’s hard to divorce the hypocrisy over Yager with the widespread conservative crackdown on undocumented immigrants: Tennessee’s own U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty introduced a bill to make a DUI automatic grounds for deportation. So Yager’s piss-drunk antics could get someone removed from the country, but not ousted from the General Assembly? McNally should pray his party develops some integrity instead.
When a Problem Comes Along …
In April, six lawmakers were appointed as deputy whips — a role traditionally tasked with counting votes and keeping a party’s members in line. And with those appointments came literal whips, framed and presented to the lawmakers by House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville), causing several Democrats to cry foul. The Tennessee Black Caucus argued that the gifts “reflect a troubling lack of awareness and sensitivity in the General Assembly” during a “legislative session marked by deeply divisive bills that target and harm minority communities across Tennessee.” Republicans snapped back with photos of Democratic former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was also photographed with a ceremonial whip in 2001. The Tennessee State Capitol was built in part by the labor of some enslaved people. Times change — maybe the theatrics of politics should too.
Sober Judgment
In August, WSMV discovered that state trooper James Zahn had a penchant for arresting sober people for driving under the influence. A week after a report detailed seven instances from 2018 to 2025, Zahn arrested his eighth sober driver: a 71-year-old former U.S. attorney who had just been in a collision. While Zahn might have been prolific, he was not an outlier — the trend of bogus DUI arrests was so bad in 2024 that it inspired a new state law about DUI arrest transparency in the 2025 legislative session, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law. But it invited even more scrutiny on the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s operation, and WSMV has even substantiated claims that troopers are incentivized to make DUI arrests to earn “premium overtime.” (Some ex-troopers allege there are quotas, which THP denies.) The accusations depict THP as being less interested in protecting drivers and more interested in serving themselves.
Trooper Stupor
In one of the most memorable scenes from this year’s legislative session, state troopers arrested 80-year-old protester Lynne McFarland for refusing to leave her seat at the close of a Senate committee meeting. McFarland sat in protest of a proposed bill that would have prohibited undocumented students from enrolling in public schools. While she committed a peaceful, nonviolent act of protest against a particularly disgraceful piece of legislation, three state troopers physically carried her out of the Cordell Hull State Office Building, placed her in a patrol car and arrested her. She was charged with two misdemeanors: disrupting a meeting and resisting stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search. It feels as though Tennessee state troopers — who, according to their website, have a mission to “serve, secure and protect” — could find something better to do with their time.
He Did Nazi His Arrest Coming
When Travis Keith Garland put on a rabbi costume in January and entered the Gordon Jewish Community Center — streaming the whole interaction from his phone — he tried to pass it off as a prank. Later, NewsChannel5 found that it was not a one-off instance of dumbassery, but instead a planned ambush from the neo-Nazi Goyim Defense League — the same hate group that paraded through Nashville streets last year. This type of behavior is exactly why such Jewish institutions need security. Armed guards stepped in and de-escalated the situation in January. Garland not only missed the point of a “prank” (i.e., to be funny) but also scared a lot of people in the process. He was slapped with a civil rights intimidation charge, and his bond was set at $250,000.
Grand Old Potted Plant Party
After years of awaiting trial, former state House Speaker Glen Casada and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren were finally sentenced for their political-kickback scheme (via a company called Phoenix Solutions) in September — and then they were quickly pardoned by President Trump. Texts revealed during the trial show that former state Rep. Robin Smith, a co-conspirator turned witness, called at least one fellow Republican an “idiot” and referred to several as “potted plants,” to which Cothren replied “absolutely.” While Casada and Cothren seemingly escaped any real consequences for their actions, the divide between the ousted Republicans and current state leadership remains pretty clear. After the guilty verdict, the House Republican Caucus noted that current state House Speaker Cameron Sexton was “instrumental in uncovering illegal activity by two former members,” so any real return to politics for the pair seems unlikely, at least here in Tennessee.
Shallow Fakes
During Tennessee’s annual legislative session, Nashville Democrat Heidi Campbell always tells it like it is, ripping Republican colleagues for bad-faith arguments or straight-up untruths. This year, the state senator told it how it isn’t, letting her partisan bias outweigh a basic commitment to verification when she posted a fake version of Trump’s creepy note to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on her Instagram account. The real one, which surfaced weeks later, is plenty unsettling. Campbell’s own version — borrowed from an uncited source and still on her account as of this writing — only fueled the “BlueAnon” mockery Democrats might suffer if they stoop to the poor standard of integrity widely accepted by today’s GOP.
A No-Brainer
During an August meeting with the Music City Center’s Convention Center Authority, officials with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company revealed the planned route for the Music City Loop — a future Teslas-only tunnel connecting the airport to downtown Nashville that has already been met with significant local backlash. Officials also explored the possibility of making the convention center a stop on the tunnel’s route. The proposed route was the primary headline from the meeting, and while the construction of Musk’s tunnel may hold untold future Boner Awards (there have already been contractor walk-offs over safety and pay concerns), the meeting’s Boner-worthy affront came from board chair Norah Buikstra. “I think that this project, of all things, is something we all ought to be able to get behind,” she said. “Everybody get a partial lobotomy and take out political preferences, and we can just look at this and say, ‘This is a great project for our city.’” So if Nashvillians take out a portion of our brains and stop thinking about politics, we might think the loop is a good idea? Hmm. You know what? Fair point, actually.
Building Tension
Most people didn’t even know Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure director Diana Alarcon’s name. But anonymity — one of the reprieves that comes with being a midlevel city bureaucrat — is a revocable privilege. That’s a lesson Alarcon found out the hard way when the department’s surprise installment of “beautification balls” on Korean Veterans Boulevard pissed off Nashville’s tightly knit homeless advocacy community. These hastily named and hastily deployed orbs of hostile architecture replaced two blocks’ worth of benches popular as a public resting spot. The benches’ sudden disappearance was seen as a salvo in a war on people living outside, with Alarcon as Metro’s commanding lieutenant. Bench-building parties became a September social event, and simple wooden designs popped up around the city. Any DIY seating that wasn’t immediately confiscated by NDOT was freely adopted as a nap nook or sitting spot — exactly what a bench is for.
Know Your Acronyms
Mayor Freddie O’Connell faced his first real test in office when a sudden ICE operation terrorized the city over the spring and summer — he learned quickly that an ounce of basic briefing was worth a pound of damage control. While O’Connell tried to serve as both the city’s chief law enforcement executive and a sympathetic pro-immigrant community guardian, apologizing for disappeared family members and vowing not to collaborate with immigration enforcement, a call surfaced in which a federal officer plainly warned Metro’s Department of Emergency Communications about the whole thing days in advance. The warning didn’t seem to get far: The city’s call operator incorrectly interpreted “ICE” as a federal “culture and immigration office,” leaving the mayor with a common political choice: ineptitude or hypocrisy.
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Boners
Turns out storing a bunch of unsupervised flammable gas in a parking garage near a beloved civic institution might not have been the best idea. An early-morning blaze next to the Nashville Public Library downtown incinerated cars, warped the concrete structure and buried legal liability in a mess of contractors, subcontractors, insurance policies, and public-private agreements. The city’s fire report didn’t yield much information, but pictures from inside the garage sent to local media show a dozen gas canisters in a storage room operated by the Nashville Downtown Partnership and leased to subcontractor Block by Block. Six months later, the city’s flagship library branch is still closed from fire damage, and no one’s reached for the bill.
Ya Think?
In July, a DoorDasher in Madison called 911 to report a house fire. The Nashville Fire Department dutifully arrived on scene and put down the conflagration. Noting that the house was empty, boarded up and disconnected from the power grid, they called in fire investigators. The firefighters did their duty and departed, only to have NFD called back a few hours later with the place aflame a second time. NFD, sternly and seriously, declared they suspected arson — a determination that no doubt took about two seconds to finalize.
No Pride for VUMC
Vanderbilt University Medical Center laid off more than 600 people this year, and in doing so gutted its entire slate of LGBTQ programming. Gone is the Trans Buddy Program (and the student they were paying pennies to run it), and all but deleted is the Program for LGBTQ Health. The VIVID Health Clinic, formerly known as the Transgender Health Clinic, is no more. Once known for such care, VUMC turned its back on the community, and garnered a letter from the Metro Council LGBTQ Caucus, which reads in part: “This is not about red tape or resources. This is about values.” It was just one of several jabs at the community in recent years, including pulling out of the 2025 Nashville Pride Festival and handing over records of transgender patients during a 2023 state government probe.
Councilmanic Cronyism
Although Metro Councilmember David Benton rarely speaks during council meetings, he caught a glimpse of the spotlight this year in the debate over immigration. Benton cozied up to Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in May at a press conference announcing a probe into Mayor Freddie O’Connell following a sweep of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. Benton continued to push fearmongering rhetoric related to immigrants and support for license plate reader technology (found to be used as an aid in Tennessee immigration enforcement). In June, he left a council meeting early in what certainly looked like an attempt to avoid voting on a resolution to honor Immigrant Heritage Month. If only Benton would channel all of this recent buzz into some meaningful legislation at the local level that helps, not hurts, his constituents.
Council Cage Match
Things got heated at the Metro Council this year, and one particular meeting in August takes the cake — or at least the Boner Award — for most screaming. At the meeting, Councilmember Sean Parker approached fellow Councilmember Tasha Ellis, reportedly using profane language (the exact details of which remain unknown). This caused Ellis to begin yelling, claiming that Parker threatened her. Ellis continued to yell at Vice Mayor Angie Henderson, who attempted to call order to the quickly unraveling meeting. Much of the back-and-forth from that night was not spoken into mics, and thus could not be heard in the meeting’s livestream. This led to even more confusion, as some online clips circulated presenting the situation completely out of context. That same night, Councilmember Ginny Welsch falsely claimed that Lauren Magli, a resident of The Nations, lives in Franklin. This resulted in Magli rising from her seat in the gallery … and she also began yelling. The council seems to have cooled down for now, but this one night of chaos has worked to counteract the typical parliamentary-procedure-following meetings that might as well be a white-noise machine.
Signature Series
District 20 Councilmember Rollin Horton has been a key figure in the rezoning debate this year, especially when it comes to his recently passed plan for The Nations. This led to the formation of an extremely vocal group of West Nashville residents calling themselves Voices of District 20. Unhappy with Horton’s handling of the rezoning, the group launched a recall petition in October seeking to force an election and oust Horton from office. The petition was not returned to the Metro Clerk. Seemingly, this was because they did not garner enough signatures to trigger a recall election. However, the group told the Nashville Banner that they had collected “more than enough” signatures, but declined to provide proof. When asked by Scene sister publication the Nashville Post about signatures, the Post received no response. The group then decided they would switch their target at Horton to an ethics complaint. They did not file it until several weeks later. Inside that ethics complaint, the group pushes for Horton’s actions to be investigated and prosecuted by the District Attorney’s office. We’ll see what route the group takes next, but right now it seems as if they’re trying to fill a legal filing bingo card.
Reading Is Fundamental
Back in the spring, the Tennessee Department of Education took to Facebook to thank Tennesseans for participating in March Literacy Month — an initiative highlighting “how Tennessee’s meaningful reading investments continue to strengthen early literacy skills and prepare students to reach their full potential.” Sounds great, right? The only issue: The TDOE misspelled “Tennessee” in the post’s graphic, leaving off that crucial final E. The post was live for several days before being deleted. Typos happen to us all. (Trust us: We know this as well as just about anyone.) But it’s hard to get more egregious than this.
Horsin’ Around
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District suffered a broken rib and some bruising this summer after he was kicked by a horse on his family’s East Tennessee farm. The Republican congressman was adamant that the injuries didn’t affect his supposedly maniacal working hours. But given his very public recent flip-flopping on whether Congress should release the Epstein files, we’re wondering if the horse kicked him in the head too.
The Two-Tone Blues
After the Titans finished their 2024 season tied for the worst record in the league, therefore “earning” the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, there was cautious optimism heading into the team’s 2025 campaign. Sure, turning a 3-14 team into a postseason contender in one offseason is rare, but with future franchise cornerstone Cam Ward and a few exciting new veterans taking the field, the arrow had nowhere to point but up. Turns out, there was another level of hell for this putrid franchise to reach. With the team on pace to have the league’s worst record for the second straight year, head coach Brian Callahan — labeled an offensive guru prior to his hiring — was stripped of his playcalling duties before ultimately being relieved of … well, all of his duties. Callahan was fired less than two years into his tenure, and a mere six days before the Titans faced the New England Patriots and head coach Mike Vrabel, Callahan’s more successful predecessor. There’s always next year.
To Catch the Predators
In July, the Nashville Predators’ Development Camp prospects got involved with some good causes for a community outreach day — they visited sick kids and helped teachers, among other worthy acts of service. It’s just that the slogan the team picked to print on T-shirts for the day … well, perhaps they could’ve come up with something a little better than “Preds in the Community.” Needless to say, scores of folks online had a field day with the slogan, making To Catch a Predator references and so forth. Saturday Night Live even got in on the action a few months later, spoofing the slogan and the team’s name with a sketch starring host Miles Teller as a flustered Predator who seems to be the only one picking up on how unfortunate the phrase “I’m a Predator in my community” sounds.
Congestion Questions
Seemingly about once a month, there is an apparent “unprecedented” gridlock event at the Nashville International Airport. It’s one of those “with great growth comes great congestion nightmares” situations. But on a Monday night in September, BNA’s traffic woes truly reached unforeseen heights (lows?). Drivers were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours, and passengers were hiking I-40 with their luggage in tow. Reddit users were convinced there was a “small riot” happening. BNA blamed unforeseen surges in rideshare requests and hundreds of arrivals for a major convention for the “unprecedented” — there’s that word again — traffic event.
Concerned Citizen!
In April, The Tennessean’s Liam Adams reported on a convoluted dispute between the nonprofit that owns the former home of downtown Nashville’s Central Church of Christ and the family that controls the deed to the property through stipulations in the original grant made to the church. That family, by the way, includes Amy Grant. The state attorney general got involved, and the whole thing is admittedly pretty complicated. Grant and her family hired PR firm the Ingram Group to get the word out about their side of the story, even getting a story on the battle in The Wall Street Journal. After The Tennessean’s version ran, a concerned citizen penned a letter to the editor. Now, Nashville’s daily paper has what might be generously described as a capacious opinions policy, which allows for bad-faith (or outright false) claims to be made without any sort of rebuttal or clarification, and gives Responsible and Concerned Conservative Cameron Smith a platform to make the most tepid criticism of the Trump administration’s excesses while insisting that whatever the president is doing is Actually the Left’s Fault. Another concerned citizen, who disputed Adams’ characterization of Grant and her relations as “aggressive,” was Brandon Gee of Madison. Who is quoted in the story Adams wrote. Because he was working the account for the Ingram Group. Gee — a former Tennessean staffer, by the way — was just doing his job, and more power to him, but it took weeks for the editors at the local daily to append a note to the story disclosing Gee’s connection to the broader story.
I Drink Your Milkshake
The Tennessean has been called a lot of things lately — “generous ice cream shop” is not one of them. This legacy newspaper did bestow one surprise scoop this year when departing opinion editor David Plazas let slip his career plans to Scene publisher Mike Smith well before making the decision public. Now comfortably opining for the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, Plazas left Nashville in May, no doubt after slightly frustrating The Tennessean’s news side by giving away his final story.
Now That Was Nasty
Officials with both Cheekwood Estate & Gardens and SB Initiative Inc. (the fine folks who oversee the annual Swan Ball charity event) concluded their highly publicized spat at 2024’s end. SBI retained control of the Swan Ball name and trademark, while also regaining control of the swanball.com domain. Bruised from the legal battle, Cheekwood nonetheless did not have to pay any damages to SBI and might be better off without the headaches of dealing with the high-society gala. Regardless of which party “won,” the nastiness of the disagreement likely sullied the images of both. Here’s a Boner Award to Cheekwood for losing what control it previously had of the Swan Ball. And another Boner Award presented to any SBI members who misguidedly thought Jane MacLeod, the pleasant yet tenacious CEO of the art museum and botanical gardens, might perhaps crack under the stress of the lawsuit and resign.
Hold the ICE
In August, the West Tennessee town of Mason approved the reopening of a CoreCivic prison to house federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in a heated public meeting that ended in confusion. The meeting drew protesters from across the state and saw Mason police attempt to silence the press. Contracts were given to town officials just minutes before the meeting began, and the meeting itself featured Mayor Eddie Noeman engaging in arguments with town residents. A rushed vote at first appeared to have been a no on reopening the prison under ICE authority, with Noeman telling Scene sister publication the Nashville Post he didn’t know what the result was and refusing to confirm the vote’s outcome. Later, the mayor and several aldermen convened with a lawyer who was introduced as the town attorney in the meeting (though he actually isn’t), and the vote was determined to have passed. Days later, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee demanded that the town “immediately stop all actions related to contracts” with CoreCivic and ICE, arguing that the board did not follow the town’s charter. Despite the concerns of some town officials and residents, the prison began receiving federal inmates in September.
Boner of a Lonely Heart
Last month, Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board appointee Teresa Crosslin resigned just hours after being sworn in. The reason? A resurfaced 2014 episode of the Showtime reality series Gigolos. Under the name “Jenna,” Crosslin appeared in a … very randy segment of the program, which followed male escorts in Las Vegas. The next day, Crosslin backtracked, rescinding her resignation and saying she’s decided not to let the horny TV appearance define her. Believe it or not, we of the Boner Awards committee are not here to shame anyone for their sexual proclivities, as long as everything’s consensual. It’s more the flip-flopping that earns a trophy — and in this case, there’s enough Boner Award to go around. As Clarksville Democrat Karen Reynolds put it in a Clarksville Now op-ed not long after the Gigolos fiasco: “This situation is not the fault of one individual. It is the result of a decision-making process that has stopped prioritizing qualifications and started prioritizing ideological loyalty.”
Saturday Night’s All Right for Griping
Before he threw a chair from a rooftop bar, before he got caught on a neighbor’s security camera hollering the N-word, country star Morgan Wallen was known as a simple himbo who partied recklessly during COVID lockdown and got disinvited from his musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live. He got a do-over, and was even invited back for a second SNL appearance in March. Anora star Mikey Madison hosted, fresh off her Oscar win; Joe Jonas made a cameo. But apparently Wall-dawg didn’t have the best time. During the “goodnights” portion of the program, Wallen scooted like he’d seen a ghost and posted a picture of his private jet in his Instagram stories with the caption “Get me to God’s country.” While the singer later told comedian Caleb Pressley he was simply “ready to go home,” the memes rolled in and SNL trolled him a couple times. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something,” said GOAT SNL cast member Kenan Thompson when Entertainment Weekly asked him about the incident. “The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say? … We’re not all under God’s umbrella? That’s not necessarily my favorite. But whatever. Moving on, we got a new show.”
Three Chords and the Oof
In late October, international ticketing and touring behemoth Live Nation made a great to-do revealing plans for a new venue. Next fall, they’re set to plunk a 4,400-capacity venue — notably similar in size to The Pinnacle, the new downtown venue owned and operated by LN’s main rival AEG — near their local headquarters in Wedgewood-Houston. The awkward traffic patterns, frequent cargo trains and lack of convenient parking in the area make that neighborhood a head-scratcher of a location. Nonetheless, soon will rise a slick, unremarkable edifice that will house performances likely booked and promoted based more on projected ROI than artistic merit or community needs. And in one of the more hubristic moves in recent memory, it will be called “The Truth,” in reference to songwriting legend Harlan Howard’s oft-repeated quip about how a good country song is built on “three chords and the truth.” Only time will tell if the company’s choice of name for the place will blow up in their face.
Please Clap
We all get in our feelings and overreact sometimes. But not all of us like to bleat about woke snowflakes the way Kid Rock does, so a February kerfuffle set off our Boner alarm. The Cowboy Baybee popped into fellow Broadway bar owner Jon Bon Jovi’s JBJ’s Nashville during a celebration for Bon Jovi keyboard player David Bryan’s birthday, and he sauntered onstage to sing “Proud Mary.” The crowd showed good taste and an awareness of what to do when a bully shows up: While they didn’t boo Rock outright, they also didn’t encourage his braying by clapping along with the beat. This rubbed Mr. Chillin’ the Most the wrong way. He stopped the song multiple times to give clapping lessons, and eventually stormed off the stage, proclaiming thus: “You know what, fuck y’all. You ain’t gonna clap, I’m gone.” One hopes there was a fresh diaper and a binky waiting in the green room.
Off Their Rocker
For some reason, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store unveiled a new logo with a minimalist design over the summer, removing the iconic “old-timer” and his rocking chair. The company faced immediate backlash on social media from customers, including right-wing politicians and influencers who jumped on the bandwagon to bash the marketing change and the decision to renovate the restaurant’s interiors. As the culture war of it all snowballed, Cracker Barrel stock took a nosedive, and management quickly reverted to the original logo, scrapped its interior changes and fired the marketing company it worked with on the plans.
Grab Your Sausage in a Safe Location
It’s rarely a good idea to grab your sausage while behind the wheel, as former Springfield Mayor Billy Paul Carneal learned late last year. Hizzoner Emeritus knocked out power to the entire downtown of Robertson County’s seat when he crashed into a power pole. Not only did that send the Black Patch into pitch black — it sent live wires onto the roof of a nearby funeral home, catching it afire. It was a big to-do, as one might imagine. And it was all because Carneal, in his telling to the local and always chock-full of hilarity Smokey Barn News, “leaned over to pick up a sausage biscuit and before he knew it the pole was in front of him.”
