The most controversial music video in recent memory continues to cause a stir â although this time, itâs not abundantly clear who or what is the source of this latest issue.
For the unaware, Country music star Jason Aldean has become a lightning rod for criticism and cancellation after his music video âTry That in a Small Townâ began picking up some steam.
Critics blasted the song as some racist, right-wing fever dream, despite the songâs lyrics never once mentioning race or politics.
Ironically, after CMT pulled the song from its airwaves, the Streisand Effect took full hold as âTry That in a Small Townâ skyrocketed up charts, bringing swathes of new eyeballs (some of which belong to fans, others which belong to critics) to his polarizing music video.
Given the microscope the video was and is under, itâs little surprise that viewers noticed a recent, subtle change to the music video.
In short, as TMZ reports, imagery featuring Black Lives Matter riots was stricken from the video.
The celebrity gossip site posted a helpful video demonstrating the slight, but noticeable, difference between the original music video and the BLM-less version.
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As evidenced above, various parts of the music video that featured Black Lives Matter imagery was replaced with more stock footage of Aldean simply singing the song.
As TMZ notes âfootage of violence at a BLM rally, projected on a Tennessee courthouse where a Black teenager was lynched in 1927â was removed.
While the changes only amount to about six seconds of altered footage, itâs noticeable nonetheless given the microscope this song is under.
As to why or how this change was made, thereâs nothing but speculation.
Itâs possible that Aldean finally acquiesced a bit to his critics, who specifically had issues with the BLM imagery and the courthouse (due to its historic significance.)
Many critics specifically cited that imagery, while others decreed the whole video as âwhite nationalistâ propaganda:
Now, given Aldeanâs unapologetic response to this specific criticism (as well as his wifeâs), it does seem out-of-character for Aldean to willingly change the video.
One possibility bandied by TMZ is that the deleted footage could have been copyrighted.
The outlet reached out to WAGA-TV, which is where the footage in question came from, to see if the news station asked Aldean to remove it, but did not receive a response.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.