It looks like the beef between country star Charley Crockett and Jack White may be continuing. Crockett has now responded after White humorously used an ’80s novelty rap song to address Crockett’s criticism over his role in the hyping of Twin Temple after the group was dropped from Crockett’s tour.
Earlier this summer, Crockett was in the headlines after Twin Temple were dropped from two dates on his summer touring, allegedly due to their use of Satanic imagery in their show (Crockett recently revealed there were other production issues with the show that also led to the decision).
Afterward, the story picked up some momentum in the media and Jack White lent his support to the young group, offering to have them open his Los Angeles show as a make-up for one of the performances lost from playing with Crockett.
Crockett initially spoke out on social media about the move before deactivating his social accounts for a period of time. But he returned to Instagram earlier this week where he addressed the situation and called out White as a bystander artist “dog whistling” about religious and creative freedom. That post was later deleted.
In response, White claimed that he never said anything about Crockett but then offered the lyrics to the 1984 Shawn Brown novelty rap song “Rapping Duke” as his rebuke.
What Did Charley Crockett Say in Response to Jack White?
Crockett did not back down or let the conversation lie after their respective social media posts. Using a Jay-Z lyric to throw some shade at White, he offered at one point, “You sound a little naive in those articles I read,” then alluding to White’s past voiced frustrations with news and the media.
He then painted himself as someone always untrusting of media and questioned when White lost his beliefs in what the media presented him. This all then circled back to the initial cause of the dispute in which he reiterated Twin Temple essentially used the controversy to talk up a new album and then let White know that he could and would stand up to whatever he might say.
The post can be read in full below.
Hey Jack, you might get 6 into me before I get 1 into you but I don’t miss. And actually I ain’t that young. I got 300 songs out and 150 unreleased plus a new record on the way which puts me about even with your entire career output in a third the time. To quote Jay Z, “you sound a little naive in those articles I read”, talking about just last fall you had to stop watching the news, vicious cycle, somethin’, somethin’, somethin…..you’re getting too old for this shit Mr. Suzy Cream Puff. I was born in 1984 surrounded by cotton fields and I never trusted the media from the beginning. That goes for my whole generation old man. The younger they get the less they trust the machine. What wore you out on the media? Epstein Files? pandemic? 9/11 wasn’t enough? Gulf war 1? Gulf War 2? The end of Net Neutrality? The telecommunications act? Vietnam? How bout JFK getting offed in Dallas back in 1963? You know all this. But like Trump or any politician, you play to your base. I don’t care what you said in you’re songs. I’m talking about your public statements back when it was on the line in 2003. Look up my first record A Stolen Jewel. I been about it. Lemme guess, you got Che Guevara and Malcolm X on your shelf, maybe even Fred Hampton, but at the end of the day you get in the Lamborghini and put your kids in private school. I’ve seen behind the same curtain as you, and if you don’t play it just like they say they’ll never let you on the radio. So how’d you get on there? Ask UMG about CC, they hate me because they couldn’t own me. But I digress…The point is some art kids lied for publicity at my expense and you poured gas on it stereotyping me at a glance. Go ahead and conveniently ignore the fact that they lied. Same hypocrisy as the demagogues you claim to stand against. Lucky it was me, too strong to beat, around long enough not to let it kill me, but when that kind of public shame gets dumped on some poor kid who ain’t ready it might mean their life. Happens everyday big hoss. If you want the smoke, I’m your man.
What Exactly Did Charley Crockett Say About Twin Temple + Jack White?
In his since-deleted post (a screenshot can be seen further down the page), Crockett alleged there was more to the story than was initially presented in Twin Temple’s statement about being dropped over “Satanic imagery.”
He shared that they had made production requests that weren’t able to be granted physically that led him to take a closer look at their show. After seeing more of what their stage show was, he made the decision it wasn’t the vibe he was looking for, cut them loose and insisted they were paid in full for the lost dates.
“I never dropped that band from those [two] shows for ‘Satanic Imagery,’ they made it up and dragged me by a rope real good,” he shared. “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. Of course my rights didn’t matter since they had a new record coming out and a headline tour to announce.”
As for Jack White, he commented, “He used it to sell tickets too and I lost a lot of respect for him.” He went on to add, “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.”
What Did Twin Temple Say After Being Removed From Charley Crockett’s Shows?
Loudwire spoke with Twin Temple in late July about the controversy. Singer Alexandra James told us, “We never expected this level of response. I would say we were surprised with how quickly it all snowballed.”
As for Jack White and his support of the band with an invite to open for him, she added, “It meant the world to us, ’cause when you get removed from a show, there’s always the fear, as a smaller independent artist, that you’re being rejected by the industry. Charley’s a pretty well-known — I won’t call him mainstream — but he’s a much bigger artist than us. So you’re always like, ‘Okay, are other people going to do similar things to us?'”
READ MORE: Twin Temple Talk Concert Cancelation Controversy, ‘Doomed Lovers’ + More
“But I think Jack coming in and backing us up meant a lot to us — not only because we’ve been fans of his for so long, but because him just saying, ‘Nah, they’re alright,’ [meant something too].”
Charley Crockett, Twin Temple and Jack White in 2026
With the dust settling on the controversy, all three acts are back out in front of audiences in the coming weeks.
Charley Crockett, currently promoting his Clovis album, starts things back up again on Aug. 26 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s currently booked solid with shows into early October.
Twin Temple already had dates booked with Danzig when the controversy happened and they’ve since added more fall shows around that, including the aforementioned performance opening for Jack White Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. Look for them back out on the road in support of their Doomed Lovers album starting Sept. 9 in Albuquerque.
Jack White is in the midst of world tour dates in support of his Frozen Charlotte album, playing in Shanghai, China tonight (Aug. 19). His run through Europe and the U.K. concludes Sept. 2 in Dublin, Ireland before he jumps back stateside for a North American tour kicking off Sept. 18 in Cincinnati. All dates and ticketing info can be found through Jack White’s website.
12 Rock + Metal Artists Wrongly Labeled As Satanic
These rock and metal artists were wrongly labeled as satanic due to their imagery.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner