A social media user claims to have received "dozens of death threats" after she openly critiqued Jason Aldean's controversial song "Try That in a Small Town."
Destinee Stark, an influencer and activist with a varied online presence, also claims to have been slandered, accused of fraud, doxxed and had "vile" things said to her by Aldean's fans. Newsweek has reached out to Stark via email for further comment on her claims.
Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town" has been widely criticized since the music video launched earlier in July, with people claiming it promotes gun violence and features racially charged imagery. Country Music Television (CMT) removed the music video from its channel. Others have stood up for the country singer, with the likes of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis standing by him.
Stark, a self-proclaimed "activist and multi-passionate creative," shared a series of videos on her TikTok account which quickly went viral. "This song is a great example of how you don't have to mention race at all for something to very obviously be about race," she said in her first video about the song, posted on July 16.
Within the videos, she dissected a number of things she saw wrong within Aldean's song and the music video, deconstructing the racial undertones hidden within the lyrics. Despite Aldean claiming that every clip from the music video was "real news footage," Stark proved that wasn't the case in many of the clips.
In total she made six different videos referencing "Jason Aldean Dog Whistles," which is a reference to phrases used which mean something to a specific group but not to the wider populous.
@destineenstark The dog whistles in this song are legit WILD. 😳 #jasonaldean #countrymusic #trythatinasmalltown #fyp
♬ original sound - Destinee Stark
After sharing her series of videos, Stark said on Twitter that she'd received severe backlash.
"All I've done is point out racist undertones of a song & I've gotten dozens of death threats, been slandered & accused of fraud, been doxxed, & have had the most vile s*** said to me by @Jason_Aldean's fans," she said on Friday, July 21. "If he won't stand against racism, he should AT LEAST stand against this."
She went into more detail on Instagram, claiming to be a former fan of Aldean, but is now concerned that his fans are threatening her life.
"As a Black & AAPI activist in the antiracism education space, I am more than used to being the target of harsh criticism, but THIS...is on an entirely different level. Never in my life have been the target of this extent of hate and vitriol," she wrote.
Stark continued: "I'm not surprised that people are angry with my commentary about this song and music video. I expected it, but I did not expect to have my literal life and the lives of my family threatened for pointing out subtle manifestations of racism. This is NOT okay. EVER."
Newsweek has reached out to Aldean via email to get his reaction to the claims made by Stark about his fans.
Aldean previously denied that his song was racist with a social media statement posted on Tuesday, July 18. "In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous," he wrote, saying that there is "not a single lyric on the song that references race."
