The country singer defends his intentions behind the video and talks the controversial filming location.
Jason Aldean is speaking out about the controversy surrounding his "Try That in a Small Town" song and music video.
The 46-year-old country music star came under fire back in July when the video was released, with many calling it racist, a claim Aldean has denied.
In a new interview on CBS Mornings with Jan Crawford, Aldean continued to defend the song and addressed the criticism to using the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, as the backdrop for his music video. The courthouse was the site of a lynching of a Black teen in 1927.
"I love the song. I was excited to cut it and thought it was actually a song that said something for a change, not just here's another song for radio," Aldean expressed. "I didn't expect it to get the kind of heat that it got, and I think that was because of the video more so than the actual song."
As for the use of the courthouse, Aldean said, "For anybody that thinks that we picked that building specifically for that reason, because there was a lynching there or whatever," before Crawford asked if he was aware of the building's history.
"No, but I also don't go back 100 years and check on the history of a place before we go shoot it either. It's also the place I get my car tags every year. It's my county that I live in," he said.
As for whether he'd choose to shoot the video in the same place this time around, Aldean said, "Knowing what I know now, probably not, but it's also, again, I'm not going back 100 years and checking on the history of this building. Honestly, if you're in the South, you could probably go to any small town courthouse and be hard-pressed to find one that hasn't had a racial issue over the years at some point. That's a fact."
Aldean went on to share his intention behind the video.
"The whole idea behind the video was to show, you know, the lawlessness and the disrespect for cops and just, you know, trashing cities and burning -- I'm just not cool with that," Aldean said. "It just -- I don't know, I feel like the narrative got switched over and became more of a racial-type thing. It's like if that's what you got out of the song and the video, I mean, I almost feel like that's on you because that wasn't our intention."
He stands behind his song and video, saying, "I would do it over again every time."
When Crawford reminded him about his comments on changing the location of the video from the courthouse, he amended, "Minus the setting -- knowing what I know now, obviously, you know, knowing that was going to be a thing. You know, maybe look at doing it somewhere else. I know what the intentions were behind the location, the video, the song, all of it. And, you know, I stand by all that."
CBS Mornings Gayle King responded to Aldean's interview, saying she wished he'd shown more "sensitivity" to the criticism surrounding the video.
The music video’s production company, Tacklebox, previously confirmed to ET that the location is a "popular filming location outside of Nashville" and cited several music videos and films that have been filmed there-including most recently the Lifetime Original movie Steppin’ into the Holiday with Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer, a music video from Runaway June titled “We Were Rich” a Paramount holiday film A Nashville Country Christmas with Tanya Tucker -- as well the Hannah Montana film. The production company said, "Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false." Tacklebox also noted Aldean did not pick the location.
Despite backlash and the music video being pulled from County Music Television, "Try That in a Small Town" was met with viral streaming success.
The track, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, is Aldean's highest-charting single ever on the all-genre pop chart, with "Dirt Road Anthem" previously peaking at No. 7 in 2011. His last single, "That's What Tequila Does," peaked at No. 77 earlier this year.
Following the initial backlash surrounding the music video, the clip was quietly reedited with select images from the Black Lives Matter protests removed.
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