“The View” comes to Jason Aldean’s defense regarding censorship of “Try That in a Small Town”

During a segment of “The View” on Thursday, hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin came to the defense of country singer Jason Aldean regarding the censorship of the video for his controversial song, “Try That in a Small Town,” which Country Music Television (CMT) removed from their network amidst backlash towards its racist undertones.

“There’s no reason to separate big city people from small city people,” co-host Joy Behar said in a quote obtained from Fox News. “That to me is the divisive part of this song. I mean, it’s a deplorable song and it’s annoying. ‘Got a gun that my granddad gave me. They say one day they’re going to round up. Well, that s**t might fly in the city, good luck.’ It’s very divisive and provocative. But I defend his right to do this video.” Co-host Sunny Hostin agreed with Behar on this, pointing out that while the lyrics of the song — and accompanying imagery — do seem outwardly racist, she doesn’t believe that it should have been censored. “As a lawyer, when I put my legal hat on, I don’t believe in censorship. However, this man is from Macon, Georgia, my father’s from Augusta, Georgia, and Macon, Georgia. I spent many summers there. It is one of the most racist places in this country. So don’t tell me that he knew nothing about what that imagery meant, so I don’t give him the benefit of the doubt,” she said. 

Scenes in the video were shot at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a Black man named Henry Choate, was lynched in 1927.