Country Music Television (CMT) removed country star Jason Aldean’s new patriot and anti-riot music video “Try That in a Small Town” just days after its release.
Aldean’s recent music video indicates “small towns” would not allow the violent riots that took place in 2020 in major cities throughout the United States.
According to Fox News, CMT removed Aldean’s music video from its programming rotation just three days after it was released. The removal of the country star’s music video occurred following backlash from viewers who claimed that it promoted activities such as gun violence and lynching.
Additionally, Aldean’s music video was criticized for being filmed at the Maury County Courthouse. Ashton Pittman, a news editor with Mississippi Free Press, blasted the music video on Twitter for being filmed at a site where “a white lynch mob strung Henry Choate up at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., after dragging his body through the streets with a car in 1927. That’s where Aldean chose to sing about murdering people who don’t respect police.”
In response to the backlash voiced against his music video, Aldean has denied any racial undertones in his music video.
“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 tweeted. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
Aldean noted that having been present at the “heartbreaking tragedy” that occurred at Route 91 and claimed many lives, “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines of families ripped apart.”
In his statement on Twitter, Aldean said he has never tried to hide his political views. While he acknowledged that people in the United States “don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy,” he said the inspiration of the song is the “desire” to return to a lifestyle where “we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night.”
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“Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,” Aldean stated. “Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.”
