Country star John Rich has revealed that fellow conservative musicians are being "muzzled" by the music industry. Taking to Twitter, the singer called out the "powers that be" that he said have been clamping down on freedom of speech.
"The list of country artists calling me is growing by the day who are saying they're being ‘muzzled’ by the industry when it comes to them expressing their frustration and anger about the targeting of conservatives, and suppression of free speech by the powers that be. #BlackBall," he tweeted on Thursday.
Rich is speaking out after President Donald Trump's social media accounts were blocked by big tech companies. Among them is Twitter, which stated that Trump's account had been removed due to fears that he could further incite violence following the Jan. 6 Capitol, Fox News reported.
Rich addressed the matter in a separate tweet on Thursday. "Someone's "opinion" doesn't dictate what is true/false," he wrote. "Not my opinion, or yours. Free speech means SPEAKING FREELY. When "fact checkers" wipe out platforms based on their "opinion" of what you say being True/False, it's akin to historic movements that always ended in disaster."
Dozens of prominent conservatives, including Rich, have been losing thousands of followers on social media amid mounting political tension that sweeps the U.S. The musician revealed that he had lost 10k followers in a matter of 12 hours.
"It’s an honor to be attacked for professing my loyalty to God, Country and family," he tweeted last week. "If big tech liked me, I’d take it as an insult. #OnwardChristianSoldiers"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.