Earlier this week Trace Adkins went on political commenter and comedian Bill Maher’s Club Random Podcast. Among the many topics discussed was the debate around country singers Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean and their recent controversies surrounding race.
Much of Maher’s content is politically based, so it is no surprise that with a country singer like Adkins on he would ask about some of the hot button issues surrounding the genre. Adkins and Maher found themselves in agreement on the topic, with both men denying that either Wallen or Aldean are racist.
Aldean’s controversy, the more recent of the two, came last summer with the release of his track “Try That In a Small Town” and the subsequent music video. The song centers around the types of behaviors prevalent in big cities that Aldean says would not go over well in rural areas.
Critics of the song labeled the lyrics and music video as racist, citing references to the George Floyd protests of 2020 and the use of a courthouse in the video that was once the site of a lynching back in 1927. The video was pulled from CMT (where it was also premiered) following the backlash.
Adkins dismissed the idea that the filming location was a racist nod, as well as helped explain to the audience how music video shoots work and how little Aldean would’ve been involved with such a decision.
“He had no idea man. Do you know how many music videos I’ve done that I’ve called up the director and went, ‘hey man, now what about this location where we’re shooting this thing?’ And if I did do that it would only be because I didn’t know where I was going. But he had no idea.“
Trace also seemed to laugh off the idea that the political attention would hurt Aldean’s career, saying:
“It’s all so silly anyway. The grievance junkies turn on somebody and they try to cancel them, and all its gonna do, he’s gonna sell more records than he ever has and its gonna make him bigger than he’s ever been.”
The numbers have more than supported Adkins’ claim, with the song reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 immediately after the outrage, a first in Aldean’s long career.
Maher then shifted the conversation to Wallen and his controversies. Back in 2021 Wallen was caught on camera using a racial slur and faced immediate backlash. Radio stations pulled his songs, he was suspended by his record label, and he was banned from attending the ACM awards.
Much like Aldean, the incident does not seem to have affected his hit making ability in any way. The success of his 2023 record One Thing At A Time has been well documented, breaking records on its way to becoming one of the biggest country albums of all time.
Adkins noted Wallen’s success and had a humorous quip, saying:
“Morgan Wallen. He sold out two nights in a row, 55,000 plus tickets each night, you know? God, cancel ME.“
If his statements throughout the clip didn’t make it clear enough what Adkins thought of the two men, he summed it up perfectly before moving on:
“I’ve been around both of those guys. they’re good guys. They’re not racist.”
Check out the clip here: