Country singer Jason Aldean has been at the center of the public conversation, and not for a good reason. His song “Try That In a Small Town” — which is now two months old — just got a music video, and people online are discussing its extremely pro-gun lyrical content, which is even more worrying considering he was on-stage during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017.
Billboard has reported that CMT pulled the video from its rotation Monday, July 17, after it aired through the weekend. No statement has been made. The video features footage of a person with a gun robbing a store, protestors in streets burning an American flag and yelling at police, and more.
Aldean confronted the situation in a lengthy Instagram Story, writing, “I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject too the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
He continued, “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart,” he wrote. “‘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.”