Oliver Anthony Promises To Explain His Political Beliefs

Oliver Anthony is fed up with talking about his political beliefs and will only mention them one more time before quitting the subject entirely.

The overnight country music sensation was a relative unknown at the start of August, but an endorsement from podcaster Joe Rogan, who tweeted one of Anthony's videos, saw the singer go viral and his life changed forever.

He went from 374 subscribers on Spotify to more than four million in just three weeks and became the darling of many—including conservatives—for the lyrics of his viral hit, "Rich Men North of Richmond."

The song's lyrics take aim at what he calls welfare cheats, the obese, and taxation and make references to QAnon and the late businessman and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

However, some of his fans turned on him after comments he made about the working class being a diverse "melting pot," and other comments about politicians which some conservative fans interpreted as Anthony not having the same political views as them. Some accused him of faking his "hillbilly accent" or that he was a left-wing extremist.

But Anthony, who has asserted he is a centrist on the political spectrum, said he's tired of always trying to correct people. He posted a photo of himself on Instagram posing with Rogan after appearing on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

"It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm very grateful for all of YOU who showed the support to make this possible," he wrote of his time on the podcast.

"I am scheduling one final podcast after Rogan, that can deep dive into the nitty gritty it seems people are so desperately trying to understand. I'm simultaneously being labeled a far right extremist and a liberal by the powers at be. ? I love it. They are doing everything they can to cause division.

"You deserve to understand exactly what it is I am, without internet trolls and corporate news speculating for you. After that, I'll focus exclusively on songwriting and playing shows. Love y'all. Thank you."

Anthony opened up to Rogan about all of the speculation about him and his political views online.

"I've waited for this opportunity to have a real conversation with somebody about whatever it is I am," he said.

"They [people online] want to sort of build this image of whatever it is that the person behind the song represents, for better or for worse."

Anthony said: "It's really funny to watch on my end because, obviously, I know what's true and what's not. But you know, there's been hundreds of hours of people's time wasted, probably, talking about all these little things that don't even exist. Just somebody made them up and put them on the internet."

He told Rogan, "I'm just letting them ride," adding that he thought it was positive that since his overnight success, he has "been able to entertain everyone and get everyone's mind off all the other horrible stuff that's going on in the world right now."

"At least everybody can have a good laugh, you know."