Brad Paisley Joins Friends’ Invite to ‘Relax and Have a Beer’

Two best friends - one black and one white - wanted to show how they were supporting each other during the protests going on in the country after the death of George Floyd.

News 10 shared a report from WROC-TV about Benjamin Smith and Marcus Ellis, who had a "black or white, relax and have a beer" party in their driveway.  It got a tons of attention throughout the country, and even caught the eye of country music star Brad Paisley.

"It's awesome, it feels so great," Ellis said.

"It's such a cool feeling that we're making such a big impact in the community," Smith said.

The two met at work several years ago and have been friends ever since.

Brad stopped by their party via Zoom, which shocked the friends.

"Man, I am so thrilled to meet you, face to face like this," Paisley said on the call. "I'm so inspired by you, and we thought we should deliver more beer than you could possibly drink."

Paisley had hundreds of dollars of beer shipped to the guys a few hours before he joined the them on Zoom.  Brad's latest hit song is call 'There's No I In Beer'.

"I'm trying to hear out my friends in the black community," Paisley said. 'That's what you guys are doing together, the same thing. I'm all ears, always have been. I've had big ears my whole life."

Brad joined the party for over a half an hour and even chatted it up with other friends that had stopped by.

Ellis and Smith were overwhelmed with the attention this has gotten.

"It means the world, from space and back, to the other milky ways and whatever, it means a lot," Ellis said.

"Through the rioting and protests, I kind of felt like I was being torn apart, and it was rough," Smith said. "And this is what builds it back up."

With all that's going on in the world, it's great to see a story like this.  Two friends - one black and one white - who are making a difference in their own way and setting an example for all of us.