Chris Young is finally speaking out on his viral arrest last week.
Last week, the singer was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer and resisting arrest after an incident with Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents at a Nashville bar.
According to the arrest affidavit, Young was at Tin Roof on Demonbreun Street in midtown on Monday when agents were completing a compliance check.
“When we walked into the bar, a man sitting at the bar, later found to be Mr. Young, had his ID in his hand above his head.”
After finishing up, officers say Young began following the agents around and asking questions while recording them.
They then moved to the nearby Dawg House, where Young and his group followed them and the situation reportedly turned hostile.
The affidavit says that Young began talking to patrons and the bartender at the Dawg House before stopping officers from leaving once they had finished up.
Young reportedly “struck” one of the officers on the shoulder, and it took two officers to physically detain the country singer.
“While walking out the door Mr. Young put his hands out to stop me from leaving the bar and struck me on the shoulder. I then pushed Mr. Young to create distance since I had no idea of who Mr. Young was or what he had.”
The report indicates that his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was slurred during the incident.
But video quickly surfaced of the incident and told a very different story than the police report.
Video originally posted by Nick Beres of Newschannel 5 in Nashville showed Young in a leather jacket and black hat, reportedly waiting to ask officers why they took a picture of his ID. As he reaches out to the agent walking past him, the officer then pushes Young, knocking him into the bar and onto the ground.
Young then gets up and backs away with his hands up as a crowd gathers in the middle of the altercation.
A separate video posted by People showed the arrest, and also seemed to contradict the statements from agents that Young was resisting arrest or not complying, as he puts his hands behind his back when officers requested and insisted that he was “not resisting.”
Well as expected, the charges were quickly dropped, and earlier this week Young posted a video of the altercation proving that he didn’t touch the officer before being pushed to the ground.
@chrisyoungmusicStop coming at me♬ Young Love & Saturday Nights – Chris Young
And he also shared photos of the bruises on his back.
View this post on Instagram
And now, he’s is speaking out to fans for the first time.
In a video statement released on social media, Chris thanked fans for supporting him through the “false accusations,” and also revealed that he would be dropping a new song tomorrow:
“Hey guys, so I just wanted to say something. You know, I’m still processing a lot through the false accusations and everything that went on in the past week.
But I wanted to say first and foremost, thank you to everybody that had my back. It meant the world to me and I had so many friends and fans reach out and say ‘we got you, we don’t believe you did any of this.’
So it’s really nice to see the charges get dismissed. It’s not something I wish anybody has to go through ever. But, like I said, the bright spot was seeing just all the love and support.
So what I wanted to do as a thank you to you guys – because this was not planned – is drop a new song from the album so you guys will have something to listen to. We’re going to put out ‘Double Down’ at midnight and I really hope you guys enjoy this one. Crank it up, enjoy it – I appreciate you, I love you, and thank you.”
