You may have heard that the new Nashville bar of Country Music Hall of Famer Garth Brooks will be serving Bud Light.
It’s controversial, of course.
Brooks might have said he’s carrying the highly boycotted trans-promoting product because he has contractual obligations and such and most people would understand. It’s business.
He could have said, in fact, he did say, he’s serving every brand of beer and “It’s not our decision to make,” as he told Billboard Country Live.
And, on his “Inside Studio G” livestream Brooks said that as his new Friends in Low Places & Honky Tonk bar is serving Bud Light, customers can make their own decisions about what to buy.
Fair enough.
But then he used the “I” word. As in inclusiveness. And if you don’t like it, well, Brooks has also made clear what he thinks of you.
And probably a lot of his fans.
“Our thing is this: If you come into this house, love one another,” Brooks said on Billboard Country Live. “If you’re an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on Lower Broadway to go.”
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On his livecast Brooks acknowledged what he said on Billboard Country Live caused “quite a little bit of stir,” NBC News reported.
“Everybody’s got their opinions,” he said. “But inclusiveness is always going to be me.
“I think diversity is the answer to the problems that are here and the answer to the problems that are coming. So I love diversity. All inclusive, so all are welcome. I understand that might not be other people’s opinions, but that’s OK, man.”
Of course. Nobody is talking about banning people from his new bar. But the tone-deaf attitude Brooks has toward many — if not most of his fans — is right in line with Anheuser-Busch, Target, NASCAR and others from the White House on down.
Men pretending to be women, especially in trying to corrupt young children, and general refusal to accept reality by corporations, the military, some parents, and even by some of the medical establishment is not okay.
Not okay.
Brooks should know that. Or perhaps he does, but secure in the echoes of a superstar career that has guaranteed continued mega-royalty checks from his once-faithful fans, he wants to run with the cool kids.
You know them, the ones who like to say “inclusive” and stuff. How do you work words like that into a country song?
At any rate, if Brooks wants to make another of his forays out of retirement or semi-retirement or whatever he calls his current career, he may want to take note of some of the things his fans are saying.
What a sellout! Such a disgrace! He needs to take the hat off and dye he’s hair blue.
— BullishButcher (@Rugged2Rich) June 13, 2023
@garthbrooks you have followed the woke crowd into the abyss.
— Janet Stevenson (@JanetSt0831) June 13, 2023
No, thank you. You’ve disappointed me enough as is.
— Soosalah (@Soosalah2) June 13, 2023
One user wrote, “Career over.”
Career over
— NickTatorship (@NickTatorship__) June 13, 2023
Never again. And your response is even more pathetic
— Mike King (@mikekingtx99) June 13, 2023
The establishment — and Brooks is part of it or thinks he is — is trying to ride high these days, telling us we must be inclusive or else. No matter what the little people — Brooks fans — may think.
Who knows, he may want to remake one of his biggest hits:
‘Cause I’ve got friends in high places
Where the status flows and wealth comes my way.
And I’m doin’ okay.
I have arrived, I like doin’ this.
Enjoying the alphabet and inclusiveness.
I’ve got friends in high places.
But trends can reverse — and they will. Where will Brooks and all the others be then?
Then we can talk about really low places.
