(Headline USA) Country Music Television yanked country star Jason Aldean’s latest music video from its streaming service this week over concerns that the values represented in it were too conservative.
Aldean released the video for “Try This In A Small Town” earlier this month. The song’s message is pro-law enforcement and pro-America, and its music video features news coverage from the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots to correspond with the lyrics, “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face, stomp on the flag and light it up.”
The chorus of the song reads, “Well, try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road. Around here, we take care of our own. You cross that line, it won’t take long for you to find out. I recommend you don’t try that in a small town.”
Leftists claimed the video was “pro-lynching” — an accusation that Aldean dismissed as “meritless” and “dangerous.”
“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,” he said in a statement.
However, CMT removed the video anyway without comment.
A top gun control activist who had criticized Aldean over the song took credit for CMT’s response. Shannon Watts claimed on Sunday that Aldean’s new song was “about how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.”
“Proud to have had a hand in getting CMT to reject this racist and violent song,” she said on Tuesday.
Proud to have had a hand in getting CMT to reject this racist and violent song… https://t.co/6siOWPcYHM pic.twitter.com/vTMQFxNXOQ
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 19, 2023
Ironically, the backlash has caused Aldean’s song to soar to No. 1 in the music charts.
