No, Taylor Swift wasn't booted from Toby Keith tribute concert; that's satire | Fact check

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: Jason Aldean threw out 'woke' Taylor Swift from Toby Keith tribute concert

An April 18 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows images of musicians Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift.

"Jason Aldean Throws Woke Taylor Swift Out Of Toby Keith's Tribute Concert, 'Get Ya Woke Self Out,'" reads text below the image.

Many commenters appeared to believe the post was legitimate.

"Three cheers for Jason Aldean," reads one comment.

Another reads, "Jason Aldean is another True American great job!"

The post was shared more than 2,000 times in five days.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: Satire

The claim is from a Facebook account that labels itself as satire. There are no credible news reports about such an interaction occurring.

Tributes paid to Toby Keith at CMT Music Awards, no Swift-Aldean altercation

Country singer-songwriter Toby Keith died on Feb. 5 at 62 years old. Keith had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Several performers paid musical tribute to Keith by playing his songs at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, which was held April 7 in Austin, Texas. Sammy Hagar performed "I Love This Bar," Brooks & Dunn played "Should've Been a Cowboy" and Lainey Wilson performed "How Do You Like Me Now?!"

Aldean also performed at the awards show but played his own song, “Let Your Boys Be Country." There are no credible news reports that Aldean somehow removed Swift from that event, nor that either artist had planned a separate tribute.

Fact check: Build-A-Bear doesn't have Baphomet parties, stuffed toys. This claim is satire

Swift has attended the CMT Music Awards before, but she is not mentioned in multiple reports about this year's awards show, nor is she pictured in any photo galleries from the event.

The claim was posted by a satirical account called SpaceX Fanclub. The account's bio states, "We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real." The post links to an April 10 article on the website Esspots that is also labeled as satire.

Aldean became a frequent subject of false claims following the 2023 release of his song "Try That In A Small Town," which many critics perceive to be supportive of lynching and gun violence. CMT pulled the song's music video off the air in response to the backlash, as USA TODAY previously reported.

USA TODAY has previously debunked many baseless claims about Swift, including that CMT banned her for life, that she wore an anti-Trump T-shirt and that she displayed a pro-Trump banner on the red carpet before the Grammy Awards.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Aldean didn't throw Swift out of tribute concert | Fact check

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