Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany celebrated her husband for his latest single “Try That In A Small Town” topping the Billboard charts on Tuesday, August 1. The singer’s wife, 35, shared a series of photos, including one announcing that the song had hit number one on the Hot 100 chart. She alluded to all the backlash that Jason, 46, received from the song, with many saying that it promoted violence.
She shared photos of the “You Make It Easy” singer hugging his family, celebrating the song’s success. The photos included the couple embracing and another of him holding both of his kids. She also included a video of them kissing and another of him carrying one of his children. “Well, yesterday was a monumental day for Jason Aldean,” she wrote with a heart emoji. “#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart!! …A career first.”
After celebrating the career achievement, Brittany made reference to the song’s many critics who have described the song as racist, especially after the original music video included news footage from 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests. “That sure did backfire, didn’t it?? The best fans EVERRR,” she wrote.
As the song began to make waves, a wide range of fellow musicians (including the likes of Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell), celebrities (such as Sunny Hostin), and other listeners criticized the song and music video, partially due to the fact that it was filmed in front of the Columbia County courthouse in Tennessee, the sight of the infamous lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black man in 1927. The music video was pulled from CMT rotation, and an updated version was uploaded, which was six seconds shorter and appeared to have removed all of the protest footage, per The New York Times.
Following the waves of backlash, Jason released a statement denying that the song was “pro-lynching,” and called the backlash “meritless” and “dangerous,” although he didn’t address the filming location. “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 tweeted. “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.”
Jason and Brittany are no strangers to controversy. The singer’s wife was called out by country stars Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope, with the former referring to her as “Insurrection Barbie” in a subtweet. Following the feud, Jason was dropped by his PR firm, and Brittany later went on to defend her comments, making an appearance on then-Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson’s show. “I’m advocating for children. I think children should not be allowed to make this life-changing decision at such a young age,” she said.