Country music star Jason Aldean’s latest music video for “Try That In A Small Town,” lasted just one weekend on Country Music Television before the network pulled it in response to an outcry over its setting and lyrics.
Aldean’s video, which was released last Friday, has received fervent criticism online, with some claiming it is “pro-lynching.”
Interspersed between performance footage of Aldean are news clips of far-Left riots and flag burnings. A Fox News chyron reads: “State of emergency declared in Georgia.”
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough,” Aldean, who is from Macon, Georgia, sings. “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck / Try that in a small town.”
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far,” Aldean responded to critics on Tuesday.
Critics have pointed out that the video shows Aldean in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. This is the site of the 1946 Columbia race riot and the 1927 mob lynching of an 18-year-old Black teenager named Henry Choate.
It is also a common background in music videos in Nashville.
Aldean’s production company, Tacklebox, said in a statement Wednesday that it picked a ”popular filming location outside of Nashville” that had been used on numerous productions, including holiday films starring Tanya Tucker and one starring Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer.
“Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false,” the company said, adding that Aldean did not choose the location.
Aldean has long identified as conservative, and has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. “My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from,” he tweeted Tuesday.
The video and its subsequent removal from CMT quickly blew up into one of the periodic culture war clashes, with several conservative figures speaking out in favor of Aldean — including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Aldean has been through worse. In 2017, the country singer was on stage at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history up to that point.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean said on Twitter Tuesday. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
Take a look —
The Associated Press contributed to this article.