Lee Greenwood issued a dire warning about America’s future if the trend of canceling artists continues following attempts to cancel Jason Aldean over the music video for “Try That in a Small Town,” which critics claimed was “pro-lynching.”
The 80-year-old country music said “Freedom of expression is under attack” in an op-ed headlined, “Cancel culture mob attacked Jason Aldean. They came for ‘God Bless the USA.’ But they can’t cancel all of us.”
“The latest ‘cancel culture’ attack has struck directly through the heart of country music as the mob has come for one of our most popular current stars, Jason Aldean,” the “God Bless the USA” singer wrote.
“Make no mistake, this isn’t just about Jason — who is a friend, and I’m also a fan — this is about all of us in country music,” he added. “Freedom of expression is under attack. We are increasingly seeing it throughout our culture. Yet, freedom of speech and creative expression are essential to a free country — it’s the American way of life.”
“Canceling artists is anti-American, it’s insidious and if it gains a foothold, it will take another generation to weed it out,” Greenwood continued, noting his own experience of being “canceled” and “terminated” from the National Endowment of the Arts one year into President Joe Biden’s administration.
The country singer said no reason was given but he suspected it was because he refused to “demand” former President Donald Trump stop playing his song “God Bless the USA” at Trump rallies.
“The reason I won’t give in, and the reason Jason Aldean won’t back down, is we know how this ends,” Greenwood wrote. “We must ensure that we don’t allow cancel culture to take our freedom of expression away. In response to the cancel culture, I’m committing the rest of my life to freedom of expression, to country music, and to America’s veterans who’ve died and served to protect those freedoms.”
“We must send a message to every queller of free speech that their actions are not welcome here and as my song says, ‘… that the flag still stands for freedom, and they can’t take that away,'” he added. “May God bless our country music artists, our Veterans, and may God Bless the USA.”
The country star’s piece included details about his latest project for what his website called “Concerts 4 A Cause” a mission “to send 50,000 VETERANS to movie theaters” in America for free on Veteran’s Day for a theatrical premiere of a star-studded country concert. More information can be found here.
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