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FACT CHECK: Did CBS Really Ban Jason Aldean From Performing “Try That In A Small Town” On Their New Year’s Eve Show?
You know what they say about believing everything you read on the internet…
We’re five days into the new year, which basically means it’s almost summer at this point. (Look, I hate cold weather, just let me dream). But for some reason, people are still talking about CBS’s New Year’s Eve show, New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.
This year’s show was hosted by HARDY and Bert Kreischer, and featured performances from Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson, Bailey Zimmerman, and more.
The live broadcast features a mix of performances from the annual New Year’s Eve celebration at Bicentennial Park here in Nashville, and this year included a second stage at Luke Combs’ Category 10 bar in downtown Nashville, while also throwing in a mix of pre-recorded performances from other artists that were taped months ago.
But it’s not what was shown on the broadcast that has people talking: It’s a performance that didn’t make it to live television.
Videos have been popping up on TikTok of Aldean performing “Try That In A Small Town,” his #1 single from 2023. Of course there was all kinds of ridiculous controversy surrounding the song at the time, but it’s become one of Aldean’s biggest hits and most popular songs.
But many of the videos claimed that CBS banned him from performing it on the live broadcast:
@ladysavage7890 CBS banned Jason Aldean from performing this song during the Nashville new years eve bash… so he said a big f u and still performed it during commercial #concert #newyearseve #momsoftiktok #fyp #jasonaldean ♬ original sound – SavageSAHM Fitness Journey
@bestdeals_tiktok He performed this on the commercial break…. @Jason Aldean #countrymusic #jasonaldean ♬ original sound – The concert tiktok
@shashagirl77 #jasonaldean #nashvillenye #nashvillesbigbash #bigbash #fyp @Jason Aldean ♬ original sound – ???????
Well obviously that sounds like a big story if he was, in fact, banned from playing a particular song. So I decided to do some research to get to the bottom of it, try to see what evidence I could find that CBS told Aldean he couldn’t play the song.
Turns out, the answer is…there is none.
Aldean never mentioned anything on stage about CBS “banning” him from performing the song, and hasn’t said anything about it on social media either before or after the show.
So where did the rumor come from? Well I did some digging in the comments, and it appears that the only evidence that it was banned by CBS was that he performed the song and it wasn’t aired on the live broadcast.
The problem with that is that there were several songs, by all the artists who performed, that weren’t shown on the live broadcast. The show jumps around between locations and performers, rather than showing an artist’s entire set, yet the show has to go on for those in attendance at the live show.
After Aldean performed his first two songs, the broadcast then went to Riley Green performing “Worst Way” in a pre-recorded performance from Music City Bar & Grill. They then cut to yet another pre-recorded performance from Keith Urban at Barstool Nashville, before returning to the live performances from Aldean.
Were they just supposed to pause the live show, in front of hundreds of thousands of fans, while all this was going on? Of course not. And it wasn’t just Aldean who performed songs that weren’t shown during the broadcast, because that’s how live broadcasts work: Some performances don’t air. Hell, I’ve spent New Year’s Eve in Times Square (no I didn’t wear a diaper and no I would never do it again) and there are performances there too that aren’t shown on the live broadcast. That’s showbiz, baby.
These broadcasts are finely-tuned machines, scripted down to the second to ensure that everything goes off without a hitch, so that they can get their commercials in, and so that it’s timed perfectly with the new year’s music note drop at midnight. (Not to mention, there’s also an incredible amount of work that goes into licensing music to air on these broadcasts).
I attempted to reach out to CBS to confirm that there were no discussions “banning” Aldean from performing “Try That In A Small Town,” but so far I haven’t heard back.
As of right now though, there’s just no evidence that was the case – from Aldean or otherwise. It seems like the claims that he was “banned” from performing it are just from people reading too much into things and attempting to create controversy where there really isn’t any.The post FACT CHECK: Did CBS Really Ban Jason Aldean From Performing “Try That In A Small Town” On Their New Year’s Eve Show? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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