A woman who openly called out Jason Aldean for his controversial song 'Try That in a Small Town' in a series of viral TikTok videos has claimed to have received "dozens of death threats" from trolls.
The 46-year-old country singer sparked backlash after releasing the music video for 'Try That In A Small Town,' on Friday (July 14) - which has now been withdrawn from rotation by the country music channel CMT, per Billboard and Deadline.
Many critics said that the accompanying video featured racially charged imagery, such as a scene of Aldean performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee - which is the historic site where Black teenager Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.
Others have also pointed out that the lyrics of this song warn people about causing trouble and attacking police officers in the narrator’s neighborhood, such as: "Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk / Carjack an old lady at a red light / Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store."
Read Aldean's statement below:Some eagle-eyed viewers have also said that the singer used videos from Black Lives Matter protests that occurred after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. Still, Aldean denied the allegations on Twitter, claiming that all of the news footage used is authentic and remarked that the music video was not "pro-lynching."
He also explained that the song was intended to reflect "the feeling of a community that I had growing up" and contended that it contained no references to race.
Upon seeing the infamous music video and Aldean's response to the backlash, a TikToker named Destinee Stark took to the social media platform to contest his claims about the clips used in the music video.
In her eight-minute video posted to TikTok, Stark said that she found two instances of footage within the first 30 seconds of the music video that can both be found on stock footage websites. One was taken at a festival in Germany while the other was produced by a Bulgaria-based stock footage studio.
Stark also posted six different videos with the title "Jason Aldean Dog Whistles" - and it references phrases that mean something to a specific group but not to the broader populous.
While her popular video accumulated over 1.5 million views, the TikToker has now revealed that she’s been the subject of death threats and doxxing - the act of revealing identifying information about someone online.
Stark told Gizmodo in an email that she's "receiving thousands of comments," that go far beyond what is considered "reasonably harsh criticism," stating that they are: "Into the dark realm of death threats, death wishes, threats of violence, and just the most degrading, vile comments I’ve ever seen, quite frankly.
"I would encourage everyone who is so angry about my commentary to spend some time reflecting on why it is that they are so angry about what I have to say," she added.
The 'Dirt Road Anthem' singer has also been condemned by fellow country star Sheryl Crow, who hails from a small town herself, and the hosts of The View.
However, despite the backlash, 'Try That in a Small Town' debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, and is predicted to rise to number one next week.