On July 20, 2023, a user posted a story about country music singer Jason Aldean, tweeting, "Remember when @Jason_Aldean came to small town Charleston, WV, ordered 65 burritos from a local joint ten minutes before close and didn't tip anyone? Then his team reached out after the story went viral and the employees got let go? Try that in a small town."
Remember when @Jason_Aldean came to small town charleston, wv, ordered 65 burritos from a local joint ten minutes before close and didn't tip anyone? Then his team reached out after the story went viral and the employees got let go?
Try that in a small town.
— Nolan Graley (@NolanASITD) July 20, 2023
A screenshot of the tweet has since been shared on TikTok, Reddit, and other websites.
This story was tweeted just three days after the Country Music Television (CMT) network pulled Aldean's new music video for his song, "Try That in a Small Town." NBC News reported that CMT's move was sparked by a controversy over the tune's lyrics and for featuring a Tennessee courthouse where an 18-year-old Black teenager named Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.
Upon researching the story about Aldean and the burrito order, we quickly noticed that some facts appeared to be a bit different in the July 2023 tweet than they were back when this story was first reported in 2017.
The tweet mentioned Aldean's name, a large burrito order, the lack of a good tip, and fired employees. In this article, we'll look at key known facts about the incident.
Black Sheep Burritos and Brews
We'll begin with the original reporting about this subject in a short post from TMZ.
On Sept. 13, 2017, TMZ reported the controversy began with a food order at Black Sheep Burritos and Brews in West Virginia. The story noted that a representative for Aldean had confirmed the order itself had taken place, but the story didn't say where in West Virginia, other than "not far from where the singer was performing," and provided few other specifics.
As of 2023, the company operates two restaurant locations: Charleston and Huntington.
Charleston and Sept. 7
Aldean's tour schedule from 2017 mentioned a performance in Charleston on Sept. 7. This may have been the same location and day for where and when the order was placed.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Charleston had a population of around 48,000 residents in 2020. Was that enough to constitute the definition of a "small town"?
The Census Bureau once appeared to define small towns as being incorporated areas with 5,000 residents or fewer, according to PublicPower.org and the Census Bureau's own website. We reached out to the Census Bureau to ask for clarity about the apparent definition.
Other definitions for a small town that we found came from North Carolina's Office of State Budget and Management, which said one consists of between 2,500 and 4,999 people, and Southern Living, which published a larger number: "A small town can be home to 40,000 people."
Charleston did not appear to be a small town, according to these definitions. At the same time, whether a location is small could be a matter of opinion.
The Burrito Order
The tweet about Aldean's crew and the order said it was for 65 burritos. A past Facebook comment we stumbled upon said the order was for 70 burritos.
However, these numbers were a bit different than the "60 burritos and a quesadilla" mentioned in TMZ's original reporting, which also said the order totaled around $500.
We found no concrete information on whether the order was placed for takeout and was picked up by one of Aldean's crew members, or if the entire crew sat down at the restaurant. However, the former appeared to likely have been the case, as we have so far found no photographic or video evidence of the crew eating at the restaurant.
'Ten Minutes Before Close'
The tweet mentioned that the order for Aldean's crew was made "ten minutes before close."
However, TMZ made no mention of this supposed fact at the time. While it's possible that this was true, it was unclear where this information came from.
The Tip
As for the tip itself, the tweet's claim that Aldean "didn't tip anyone" appeared to indicate that no tip was left at all.
Back in 2017, TMZ reported that a rep for Aldean said an "appropriate tip" had been left for the order:
Jason's rep confirmed the large takeout order, but says it "included an appropriate tip." The rep added, "Jason had absolutely no contact with the restaurant or any of its employees."
We were unable to find a picture of a receipt to find out a tip amount and exact total.
'Employees Got Let Go'
The last part of the tweet claimed that "employees" were fired by Black Sheep as a result of the story going viral.
However, the original reporting from TMZ only mentioned one employee who was fired, after apparently tweeting about the order for Aldean's crew.
"A manager at Black Sheep tells TMZ ... Jason's people didn't blow the whistle about the tweet, it was another employee who told management. As for the firing, the manager says tweeting about customers is a company violation."
The apparent tweets posted by the employee, which are no longer available, appeared in a second report by TMZ:
@Jason_Aldean is the type of person who thinks Hispanics work at Black Sheep.
@Jason Aldean can suck my a-- for not tipping Black Sheep, after ordering 60 burritos.
The user who created the now-viral tweet in 2023 responded to another person who linked to TMZ's reporting, and claimed, without providing evidence, that a manager for Black Sheep had not been truthful about the incident.
Oh hey you're the 10th person to send me an article with false information from the manager of black sheep at the time to cover their own ass. Weird they didn't talk to any other member of the staff that didn't get tipped.
— Nolan Graley (@NolanASITD) July 22, 2023
We contacted Black Sheep, a rep for Aldean, and the user who created the viral tweet, all with questions about the subject. This story will be updated if we receive any further information.
Summing It Up
Basically, TMZ reported in 2017 that a rep for Aldean confirmed a large burrito order had taken place at a Black Sheep restaurant. However, we have thus far found no evidence that would confirm the tip amount purportedly left by his crew. We also located no data that would indicate the musician himself was in any way responsible for leaving the tip, nor did we find information that would show Aldean or his crew had a hand in the burrito joint's employee being fired.
This story will be updated in the future should we uncover more evidence that would help to confirm more facts.