As Jason Aldean readies to release his new album, Highway Desperado, he joined CBS Mornings‘ Jan Crawford on November 1 for his first network news interview about the backlash he got for his latest #1 hit, “Try That in a Small Town.”

“There was people of all color doing stuff in the video. That’s what I don’t understand,” Jason said candidly, addressing the racism claims he faced. “There was White people in there. There was Black people. I mean, this video did not shine light on one specific group and say, ‘That’s the problem.’ And anybody that saw that in the video, then you weren’t looking hard enough in the video, is all I can tell you.”

Though the song drummed up heavy debate, it wasn’t because of what Jason thought would cause it. He thought it was going to be because of the gun reference in the lyrics, not the music video.

“I didn’t expect it to get the kind of heat that it got,” he shared. “And I think that was more probably because of the video, more so than the actual song.”

“I know what the intentions were behind the location, the video, the song, all of it,” Jason added. “And, you know, and I stand by all that.”

Jason’s full interview on CBS Mornings is available to watch on YouTube.

Highway Desperado arrives November 3 and is available for preorder and presave now.

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