Jason Aldean‘s “Try That In A Small Town” music video, which has faced controversy since its release, has been edited due to third party copyright clearance issues.
A representative for BBR Music Group confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday (July 26) that the music video was altered.
Last week, CMT told Good Morning America that it had pulled the music video from its rotation as Aldean faced backlash for the song on social media.
In his Instagram Stories, the singer defended his song and the video — which contains violent news footage and provocative lyrics — saying the references people made were “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 — and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music, this one goes too far,” Aldean said.
He noted “Try That In A Small Town” is about the “feeling of a community I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,” but some online pointed out why they feel the song and video are problematic.
Some mentioned the video was filmed at the town square in front of Tennessee’s Maury County Courthouse, where the Columbia Race Riot began in 1946 after a struggle between a Black World War II veteran and a white shopkeeper.
Aldean gave fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the music video last week. In it, he said he was getting ready to film the video at the courthouse with his band and “really try to encapsulate what the song’s about and what it means to me and what I hope to convey to you guys.”
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