PR firm splits with Jason Aldean amid LGBTQ backlash over Brittany Aldean’s posts
A Nashville firm has parted ways with the top vocalist after 17 years, potentially related to a social media beef involving the singer’s wife
Nashville-based The Greenroom PR will no longer represent 27-time country radio chart-topper Jason Aldean. The split comes amid backlash over controversial social media posts made by the superstar’s wife.
The Greenroom’s Tyne Parrish made the following statement:
“Music has always been and remains The GreenRoom’s core focus, so we had to make the difficult decision after 17 years to step away from representing Jason. We aren’t the best people for the gig anymore but will always be big fans of his music—he is one of the greatest live entertainers in country music.”
In an Instagram reel posted on August 23, Brittany Aldean wrote, “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life.” Transgender people and their supporters went on social media to post statements against Aldean’s perceived transphobia in her statement.
Planned Parenthood’s website defines transphobia as “the fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender, thought to be transgender, or whose gender expression doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles. Transphobia can prevent transgender and gender nonconforming people from living full lives free from harm.”
On August 26, singer-songwriter Cassadee Pope posted, via Twitter, “You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.”
This was not an isolated moment for Pope. In June 2019, upon posting a pro-queer Pride month Instagram post, she was met with negative feedback.
Maren Morris, a chart-topping country star and a notable LGBTQIA-rights advocate in country music, replied, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.”
Morris’ statement directly alluded to Brittney Aldean’s entrepreneurial turn via her marketing of goods to her 2.2 million Instagram followers. This has included her XO Britt Aldean line of hair extensions and Brittany’s November 8, 2021 partnering with her sister – and fellow country music spouse (of singer-songwriter Chuck Wicks) – Kasi Rosa Wicks to launch a pop-up clothing line “based around patriotic values and being proud Americans!” The merchandise – including an “UNsilent Majority” T-shirt – sold out almost immediately. “We feel like we love patriotic views, and we want to give people something to wear to express theirs,” she stated.