Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” music video is six seconds shorter since footage of a Black Lives Matter protest in Atlanta was quietly removed.
A source close to the situation told The Post on Wednesday that the footage, which showed confrontations during a BLM demonstration, came from Fox 5 Atlanta.
Aldean’s record label, BBR Music Group, told TMZ in a statement that “the video footage was edited due to third-party copyright clearance issues.”
The insider confirmed to The Post that TackleBox Films, the production company behind the video, contacted Fox on May 8 to ask permission to use the affiliate’s imagery from a BLM rally.
The source claims Fox asked for more information about the song, including its lyrics.
TackleBox allegedly sent Fox a link to the song, which was released May 19, but didn’t send the lyrics in writing, per protocol.
When “Small Town” was uploaded to YouTube on July 14, Fox 5’s footage was projected onto the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which served as the backdrop for Aldean’s performance in the video, but was also the site of the 1946 Columbia Race Riot.
That riot nearly resulted in the lynching of the first black Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall. The city also saw the lynching of 18-year-old Henry Choate back in 1927.
Aldean, 46, has repeatedly defended himself this month against accusations that the song and video are “racist” and “pro-lynching.”
The source told The Post that Fox reached out to TackleBox and gave the production company a “polite ultimatum” to remove the footage or face legal action.
TackleBox complied, and the footage appears to have been cut from “Small Town” about a week ago.
The Post has contacted reps for Aldean, BBR Music Group, Fox 5 Atlanta and TackleBox for comment.
TackleBox previously told “Entertainment Tonight” that Aldean did not personally select the courthouse as the filming location. The company insisted that many music videos and movies have been shot in the area.
“Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false,” the company told the outlet.
The ending of the video has also changed since it dropped July 14. It no longer includes news footage of a struggling small town farmer.
“Farmers are dropping their own crops for the day. A friend is in need, and they’ve come to help,” a female news anchor says in the original video.
“It’s what this community — what a lot of communities — stand for: Somebody needs some help, you’ll get it,” a man in a wheelchair tells the camera.
It’s unclear why that footage was axed.
“Small Town” and its accompanying imagery continue to draw controversy.
Days ago, a TikToker took a closer look at the newspaper article featured in the background of Aldean’s promotional TikTok for the song.
The TikTok sleuth claimed the text was a letter to a publisher from an NAACP public relations consultant commending him for ridiculing white supremacists and criticizing school segregation. The publisher said he swiftly faced backlash for taking a stand.
One outlet argued that inclusion of the article in the TikTok glorifies the attack on the publisher.
Aldean, meanwhile, shows no signs of removing the song from his setlist.
“So, somebody asked me, ‘Hey man, do you think you’re going to play this song tonight?’” Aldean said onstage during a recent concert in a clip posted to social media.
“The answer was simple. The people have spoken and you guys spoke very, very loudly this week.”
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