Brittany Aldean publicly supported her husband Jason Aldean in an Instagram post after the country superstar encountered backlash from his newest music video.
Jason Aldean ignited controversy over the lyrics in his song Try That in a Small Town. The song—which compares city life to country life—was released in May, and the country singer released the corresponding music video on Saturday.
Critics of the song believe some of the lyrics promote gun violence, specifically when Jason Aldean tells a story about a gun he received from his grandfather. He sings that "they say one day they're gonna round up/Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck."
Others pointed out that the song might allude to the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in which Aldean performed in Las Vegas in 2017 when a mass shooter killed 60 people and injured more than 400.
Despite the controversy, Brittany Aldean supported her husband in an Instagram photo posted on Tuesday night.
In the photo, the Aldeans are sitting together on a beach.
"Never apologize for speaking the truth," Brittany Aldean encouraged her husband in the post.
Brittany Aldean further addressed the issue in an Instagram story also published on Tuesday. In the story, black text appears over a picture of a palm tree. Brittany Aldean criticizes the media specifically, accusing them of not focusing on "real" stories while reporting on the Try That in a Small Town controversy.
"It's the same song and dance," Brittany Aldean wrote. "Twist everything you can to fit your repulsive narrtive [sic]. How about instead of creating stories, we focus on the REAL ones such as CHILD TRAFFICKING? Food for thought."
Newsweek reached out to Brittany Aldean through Instagram for comment.
Brittany Aldean has a history of making comments on Instagram that fuel debate. Last August, she made an Instagram post in which she shared a before-and-after makeup video. In the post, she thanked her parents for "not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase."
Critics felt the comments were transphobic. Music stars, including Cassadee Pope and Maren Morris, spoke out against the comments.
At the time, Brittany Aldean defended the post and said her comments were taken out of context. Shortly after she made the comments, Nashville firm The GreenRoom PR dropped Jason Aldean after representing him for 17 years.
On Monday, Country Music Television (CMT) pulled Aldean's new music video amid concerns that it was pro-lynching, as it was filmed in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. The courthouse was the site of the 1927 lynching in which a white mob hanged Henry Choate, a Black man.
Try That in a Small Town hit No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes chart on Wednesday.
Shortly after the Route 91 Harvest shooting, Jason Aldean spoke with the Associated Press about how he felt guns were "too easy to get." He also commented on the controversy regarding gun control.
"It's a no-win situation," he said. "I think no matter what you say, whether you're for gun control or not, I mean, you're setting yourself up to be crucified in the public eye or in the media."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
