Brittany Aldean, the wife of country singer Jason Aldean, attempted to share her side of the feud with country singer Maren Morris during a podcast appearance with her husband on Monday.
Brittany, 36, and Jason, 47, were guests on the podcast Try That In A Small Town, where they reflected on the 2022 online outcry in which Maren, 34, criticized Brittany for statements she considered transphobic.
However, her account of the discussion between her and Maren mainly downplayed her criticism of gender-affirming care for transgenders. She even called Morris’ “pro-women” stance “nonsense.”
The podcast was ostensibly a safe space for her to delve into the online feuds, as it is hosted by the four songwriters behind Aldean’s hit single Try That In A Small Town.
The 2023 song topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the Hot Country Songs chart, but also drew criticism from liberals and moderates who accused it of supporting lynchings and vigilante violence, though Jason — who did not write the song — denied it had that meaning.
Country singer Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany referenced Maren Morris’s feud over her alleged transphobic comments on the Try That In A Small Town podcast on Tuesday; pictured in Frisco, Texas in May 2023
She criticized Morris, 34, for allegedly being “pro-woman” and called her stance “nonsense” amid criticism of transphobic remarks; pictured July 15 in LA
Brittany and Maren’s original feud began in August 2022, when Brittany shared a video of herself getting ready and said, “I really want to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I was going through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life.”
She later referred to “child genital mutilation” in follow-up messages.
In response, country singer Cassadee Pope wrote on Twitter, “You’d think celebrities with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their posts. Instead, here’s someone comparing their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone who wants to transition. Really funny.”
Maren responded with an answer to Cassadee while talking about Brittany: “It’s so easy to, like, not be a jerk? Sell your clip-ins and shut up, Insurrection Barbie.”
But Brittany’s summary of the online arguments conveniently omitted her original comments about transgender health care.
‘[Maren’s] I have a group of friends here in Nashville that have it in for me for some reason,” she claimed to the hosts, via Billboard.
“What, to be so pro-woman and all that bullshit – you’re not, because I’ve never said a word to you and you’re coming for me,” Brittany continued. “Why? Because I’m an easy target? Because I’m a woman and I don’t have a platform, but I do have social media?
“For some reason I offend them,” she continued.
Britanny claimed that Maren and her friends were “targeting me for whatever reason,” while apparently not mentioning the original comments about transgender children that sparked Maren’s anger
She claimed she was an “easy target” because she was “a wife” and didn’t have “a platform”; pictured on May 16 in Frisco, Texas
“It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag? Sell your clip-ins and shut up, Insurrection Barbie,” Maren originally tweeted in 2022 after Brittany claimed parents were changing their children’s gender; seen in LA in December
“She started making fun of my company, which at the time was selling hair extensions,” she said of Maren’s comment about her “clip-ins.”
“But for me, it’s like, going back to the feminist movement. Aren’t you supposed to be all peace and love and inclusivity and all that stuff? Why are you coming at me like this about my business?” she mused.
Only later did she refer to her comments that gave rise to the claims of transphobia.
“I’m grateful that my parents didn’t say, ‘Oh, Brit. You like sports, you like Babe Ruth, do you want to be a boy?’” she said, calling the idea “crazy.”
The guests and hosts — Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher, Kelley Lovelace and Tully Kennedy — were seemingly unanimous in their opinion that it is now common for parents to take the lead in changing the gender of their minor children.
However, children who suffer from gender dysphoria (a problem that arises because a person’s body does not match their gender identity) go through many different stages before they ever receive treatment.
Parents are advised to support younger children, many of whom will eventually drop out. For older children who continue to feel that their bodies do not match their gender, therapy is recommended.
Only if a therapist diagnoses them with gender dysphoria would puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy be considered. The puberty blockers — which are reversible — are not used until the onset of puberty, and some children with gender dysphoria may not feel the need for any form of hormone intervention in the first place.
Guidelines drawn up by the Endocrine Association recommend that minors continue taking puberty-blocking medications for up to two years so that they can better define their gender identity before starting hormone replacement therapy in their later teens, which triggers puberty.
But Brittany didn’t seem to mind Maren’s nickname, “Insurrection Barbie,” and her husband Jason said, “It’s kind of sexy”; they can be seen shaking hands with convicted felon and former President Donald Trump at the RNC on July 18.
Transmasculine youth may have the option of having a mastectomy at age 16, though several states governed by Republican legislatures have banned the surgery and even hormone replacement therapy for minors.
According to the Endocrine Society, genital surgery in minors is not recommended Scientific American.
Brittany subsequently complained about the “headlines” labeling her as “transphobic” after her spat with Maren, but she did say she was happy with the derogatory nickname the country crossover star gave her: “Insurrection Barbie.”
“They called me Insurrection Barbie,” she said with a laugh, while her husband added, “It’s kind of sexy.”