Jason Aldean has come under fire for a recent music video, which has since reportedly been re-edited to remove controversial clips of the Black Lives Matter movement protests.
The song 'Try That In A Small Town' was released back in May, and the music video was uploaded on July 14 - and it has since been the subject of intense debate.
The footage was shot outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee - which is infamous for being the site where Black teenager Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.
The song has been accused of taking aim at the Black Lives Matter movement as the lyrics state that riots which occurred following the death of George Floyd in 2020, would never be allowed to happen "in a small town".
Some of the lyrics mention actions like "car-jacking an old lady", pulling "out a gun on the owner of a liquor store" and "cussing out a cop", all of which supposedly would not happen in small towns.
It seems like the backlash has caused a stir with Aldean's team, as the Washington Post has reported that subtle re-edits have been done to the music video to remove certain footage of BLM protests.
The footage appears to be six seconds shorter than when it was originally posted earlier this month, with footage of news clips from Fox 5 Atlanta having been removed.
The Post went on to explain that neither Aldean nor his team responded to questions about the re-edit, and Fox has not confirmed whether they were asked for permission for their footage to be used.
Despite the backlash, the song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, as people showed their support for the song - or are going to see what the fuss is about.
Aldean was heavily criticized by Sheryl Crow, amongst others, who argued that she is from a small town, adding: "This is not American or small-town-like. It’s just lame."
One woman took to TikTok where she uploaded a series of videos criticizing the song, and she claims that she has been receiving death threats as a result.
The country singer responded to those criticizing him with a statement of his own. "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," he wrote.
Adding that the references are "meritless" and "dangerous", he explained that the song was intended to reflect "the feeling of a community that I had growing up" and argued that it contained no references to race. He also highlighted that the video clips were authentic news footage.
Aldean went on: "My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to - that’s what this song is about."
