Country music star Kenny Chesney isn’t happy with Riley Cooper either

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

Just about every report on Riley Cooper and his racial slur included the detail that he was at a Kenny Chesney concert in that now infamous video.

Not surprisingly, Chesney was not too happy to be associated with the story in any way.

An ESPN story said that Chesney reached out to writer LZ Granderson (it's the kind of story you want to back away from as quickly as possible) and the country music star said he doesn't condone what Cooper said at all.

"I'm as shocked as anyone to see the video of Riley Cooper that's started circulating on the internet. I don't believe in discrimination in any form, and I think using language like that is not only unacceptable, it is hateful beyond words," Chesney told Granderson.

"To judge an entire audience by one loud mouth isn't fair ... not to the NFL, not to the city of Philadelphia and that awesome crowd, not to my band and crew and certainly not to me, who believes music is about bringing people together for friendship and forgetting about the things in life that bring you down."

Chesney made sure to also mention that he doesn't "know everything about every player who comes to our shows," in case there was any question about him being OK with Cooper's actions.

On Thursday, a day after Cooper became a household name for all the wrong reasons, the Eagles said in a statement they and Cooper will "seek outside assistance" to further educate him on his words and actions:

“In meeting with Riley yesterday, we decided together that his next step will be to seek outside assistance to help him fully understand the impact of his words and actions. He needs to reflect. As an organization, we will provide the resources he needs to do so.”

On ESPN Radio, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Cooper would not be suspended or face further discipline by the league. The Eagles announced they fined Cooper.

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