Garth Brooks Speaks Out About Internet 'Misinformation Highway' After Bogus Rumors
Country music singer-songwriter Garth Brooks is all too familiar with the unaccountable and at-times misleading nature of the internet.
According to The Washington Post, Brooks recently called the worldwide web out as a “misinformation highway” after a year full of false reports about him and his colleagues.
The statement came about in a discussion surrounding the singer’s reaction to baseless claims that country music legend Charley Pride died this past summer.
“I slammed the laptop and Miss [Trisha] Yearwood said, ‘What’s wrong?” Brooks told the Post in a story published Nov. 19. “I said, ‘Charley Pride passed away. I blew it. I’ve had a song I wanted to sing with him for 10 years and my lazy a– didn’t get it done. It’s just one of those things where I just blew my chance.”
To the singer’s shock, however, he found out the following day that Pride was alive and well.
Shaken by the experience, Brooks, 58, decided not to leave a long-awaited collaboration opportunity to chance again, and he immediately flew to Dallas to record with Pride. The duo can be heard performing “Where the Cross Don’t Burn” on Brooks’ new studio album, “Fun” — which debuted last week.
Beyond his top-selling solo artistry and stadium tours, however, Brooks is known for stepping into the media spotlight to pursue national unity.
But with a contentious presidential election in full swing this year, Brooks’ unofficial unity campaign hit several snags.
In February, the artist took heat across the internet when users began to assume he had endorsed progressive 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. The uproar began in light of a Feb. 22 performance at Detroit’s Ford Field football stadium, where Brooks wore a hometown jersey in honor of former Lions star running back Barry Sanders.
Both Brooks and Barry Sanders have made light of the situation, with the country singer voicing second-hand embarrassment for those confused about the story during his Post interview.
Sanders had his fun more publicly, asking Brooks to join his nonexistent presidential campaign on Twitter in the days that followed.
Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20for2020 https://t.co/qPhw0lSFCD
— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) February 28, 2020
Seven months later, social media exploded around Brooks again, when Politico reported he was one of several celebrities asked to star in a Trump administration video campaign intended to “defeat despair” surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
A loud contingent of fans were quick to voice their frustration and disappointment in this instance as well, assuming the artist to be a Trump supporter.
Brooks reportedly remains uncertain with regard to where the rumors started.
“All I know is my publicist sent us this thing that said, ‘Hey look, I’m not sure what this is coming from, so I’m going to pass on it.’ I never even saw it. I said, ‘Okay.’ But this must be what it was — nobody’s asked me about it until now. So I didn’t hear anything,” the country singer told The Washington Post.
Brooks wasn’t without a sense of humor in that case either, telling the newspaper he often laughs when it comes to confused political controversy surrounding celebrities.
“I was lucky enough to be raised with a very strong foundation of, ‘Look, as long as you know who you are, it doesn’t matter if the rest of the world knows who you are, or thinks they know you and they’re wrong,'” Brooks said, going on to discuss the political expectations often laid at the feet of country musicians.
“You walk in with a cowboy hat, and immediately you’re put in this kind of category that might not be who you are.”
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