Kane Brown opens up about experiencing racism, child abuse: “Had to grow up faster than a normal person”

Kane Brown looks back on some of the most difficult parts of his childhood in a new sit-down with CBS Mornings, detailing the racism he experienced in middle school and the abuse he faced at home.

“Had to grow up a lot faster than a normal person … Just, you know, moving around a lot. And then no father figure. Child abuse,” Kane explains.

The singer suffered physical abuse as a kid and recalls one occasion in which he was forced to eat soap.

“One of my stepdads for my punishment shaved my head bald and put aftershave on me. Made me, like, physically eat half a bar of soap, not just bite into it. I had to eat it and swallow it. So all kinds of crazy things,” he recounts.

He also experienced racism at a young age, recalling one instance in middle school when he was sitting on the school bus with his first girlfriend.

“And she was about to get dropped off and then she was like, ‘I can’t talk to you anymore.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And she was like, ‘My dad says you’re Black,’” the singer says.

Kane believes that his presence as a country superstar should be proof positive that Black artists deserve to have a place on the genre’s biggest stages. “I shouldn’t have to say anything, you know? I’m up there in front of everybody as a Black artist,” he concludes. “I’m selling out arenas.”