Jason Aldean's Shirt in New Brand Ad Becomes Hot Topic

January 30, 2024

Jason Aldean fans appeared too distracted by the singer's t-shirt in a recent social media video to worry about the controversy surrounding the country music star.

Aldean, 46, has been in hot water over his song "Try That in a Small Town," and its accompanying music video. Some social media users described the song's lyrics as "very scary" and accused Aldean of condoning gun violence. The singer was also slammed online for filming some portions of the music video outside a courthouse in Tennessee where a white mob killed a Black man in 1927.

Aldean issued a defense of his song on social media. "These references are 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," he wrote.

The song, which compares the virtues of small-town life to big-city living, includes the lyrics that if somebody "cross[es] that line," to "cuss out a cop, spit in his face" or "stomp on the flag and light it up," to "try that in a small town." Aldean also sings: "Got a gun that my granddad gave me. They say one day they're gonna round up/ Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck." One TikTok user debunked Aldean's claims the video featured entirely real news footage.

The Country Music Television (CMT) network pulled the video from its rotation amid the furor.

The controversy has not kept the singer from posting online, including a recent video promoting his brand of bourbon.

Standing in his tour bus, he said to the camera: "We're getting ready to kick off the tour tonight with Wolf Moon Bourbon," he started before telling fans where they could buy a bottle of it if they could not find it at their local liquor stores.

Many of his fans online appeared too distracted by what Aldean was wearing to worry about the bourbon.

The singer donned a cowboy hat, jeans, and a red t-shirt with an image of Clint Eastwood from his iconic movie, Dirty Harry, emblazoned on the front.

"That Clint Eastwood shirt is 🔥," replied one fan.

Another added: "I want/need that t-shirt."

And a third wrote: "Absolutely love the shirt!"

"Try That In A Small Town" has generated parodies and even a fake song that sounds like Aldean, but is not him at all. Called, "Go Woke, Go Broke," it appeared on TikTok and Twitter and is styled to sound like Aldean.

The fake song takes aim at brands that have recently faced criticism and boycott campaigns over their support for LGBTQ+ people, including Bud Light, Target, and Disney. The track also slams CMT.

Some of "Go Woke, Go Broke's" lyrics include: "Dear Bud Light, dear CMT/ We were happy as can be/ 'Til you caved and bent the knee/ Good luck coming back from that/ Tell us what were you thinking/ f****** with the can we were drinking/ Tread all you want you're still sinking down."

Featuring expletives aimed at the above companies, the viral song mimicking Aldean adds: "These hypocritical woke liberals know they're never gonna learn, it seems/ They're calling me stupid, calling me dumb, driving my song to number 1/ Shoulda known it by now, f*** around and find out, you joke."

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