Charley Crockett has taken to social media to clear up the speculation and conjecture surrounding his decision to remove Twin Temple from two of his 2026 shows.

In July, Crockett sparked controversy when he dropped the duo, reportedly due to the band using “Satanic imagery”. The decision ended up causing a tremendous furore, with some artists criticising Crockett's move as being narrow-minded while others celebrated the ‘$10 Cowboy’ crooner for staying true to his own values.

Twin Temple made a statement expressing their disappointment at not getting to open for Crockett at the two shows they'd been booked for. Jack White then recruited them to support him, in a move that was viewed by many as a middle-finger salute to Crockett.

Now, Crockett is putting an end to the rumours and making it clear exactly how it all went down, “I gotta clear this up right quick. I never dropped that band from those 2 shows for “Satanic Imagery”, they made it up and dragged me by a rope real good”.

He goes on to stress that the choice was based on a couple of different things, “It all started about a month before those shows while we were off in Wyoming. Their production requests raised eyebrows simply because we couldn’t accommodate them physically. Then I noticed some of the things they’d been doing on stage and after thinking about it for a couple days I decided to cut em loose. We told em the vibe just wasn’t right for an all ages audience, and we paid em in full”.

Crockett then claims Twin Temple's headline-grabbing statement was a calculated PR move, “They got together with their business folks and plotted for days before finally making their public statement, designed for effect. Purposely making it look like it was a whole tour. Dog whistling about religious and creative freedom”.

Crockett admits he might have dealt with the situation differently now, with the benefit of hindsight, “Of course my rights didn’t matter since they had a new record coming out and a headline tour of their own to announce. It’s my fault, I let ‘em slip through and being that this here’s my outfit, I’m the responsible party. I reacted. I might respond differently now but everybody’s got perfect vision in hindsight”.

He lambasts the clickbait-driven media coverage around the whole issue, as well as underlining how he feels let down by some of his fellow artists for not sticking up for him during this testing time, “I think the most difficult part of the whole deal was the way the media, save for one outlet, cared nothing for the truth. They sanitized these folks’ image for their own uses in the click bait traffic game that is America’s left-right culture war. Or maybe it was all the artists I know who had their hand out showering me with praise the last few years that used the situation to kick me in the d***. I ain’t the one holding you down. And I won’t forget that when I was face down in the dirt coughing up blood you applauded”.

He then places White specifically in his crosshairs, “As for Jack White, he used it to sell tickets too and I lost a lot of respect for him. I wonder why he wasn’t so outspoken back when he was in the white stripes 20 something years ago. They purposely avoided political issues. Maybe he was worried about losing audience back when it was all on the line and he needed all the help he could get. Funny, I’ve got everything to lose right this minute and I still shoot from the hip. I’ve been speaking from my heart against the wishes of the machine my whole life”.

Crockett concludes with the declaration, “Real patriots think for themselves”, another apparent dig at what he perceives to be a troubling amount of dog-whistling from outlets and artists attempting to frame his decision as a politically-charged one.

The Texas singer-songwriter has established himself as one of the most outspoken figures in the modern country and Americana landscape, with Crockett priding himself on never shying away from speaking his truth, even if it costs him followers.

In this instance, you can't help but feel Crockett has done this the whole way through, sticking to his guns in the face of widespread calls for him to reinstate Twin Temple. At the end of the day, as he outlines in his new post, it's his tour, and after learning more about the band, he simply didn't feel comfortable keeping them on and didn't view them as being a family-friendly act. We're sure that Crockett's latest statement will provoke more responses from his detractors and perhaps even Twin Temple themselves. But Crockett's fanbase will again be celebrating his willingness to say it as it is, and stand up for what he believes in.