Jason Aldean Doesn't 'Understand' Backlash Over 'Try That In A Small Town'
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Jason Aldean is still standing by his controversial song, "Try That in a Small Town."
The country star, 46, initially made waves with the new song over the summer, after releasing a music video that some believed contained racist undertones.
But over three months and a lot of backlash later, Aldean is speaking out to once again defend the message of the song, which he claims has just been misperceived by his haters.
In a preview clip from the crooner's new interview with CBS Mornings' Jan Crawford, Aldean was asked about his initial reaction to the criticism of his song, which he said first left him wondering, "How?!"
"There was people of all color doing stuff in the video," he went on to say. "That’s what I don’t understand."
He continued, "You know, there was white people in there. There was Black people. I mean, this video did not shine light on one specific group and say, that’s the problem."
"So, and anybody that saw that in the video, then you weren’t looking hard enough in the video is all I can tell you," he further insisted.
TUNE IN: Country music star @Jason_Aldean opens up about his controversial hit, “Try That In A Small Town,” which has prompted both backlash and praise, tomorrow on CBS Mornings. pic.twitter.com/9Jo3SqkfVl
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 31, 2023
Aldean had already addressed the controversy at height of the video's backlash in July, when he took to X (formerly Twitter) to call the accusations "not only meritless, but 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," he wrote at the time. "And while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music—this one goes too far."
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. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.…
— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023
Instead, Aldean claimed that the song "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. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences."
The rest of Aldean's new interview will air during the Wednesday, Nov. 1 broadcast of CBS Mornings from 7:00am-9:00am ET on the CBS Television Network and streaming live on Paramount+.
Next: Brittany Aldean Seemingly Weighs in After Jason Aldean's Music Video Backlash
