Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear Explained His Friendship With Jack Harlow At The Kentucky Derby

Jack Harlow is Louisville through and through. Around the April 28 release of Jackman, his third LP, Harlow set his “They Don’t Love It” video in his hometown and launched the Kentucky-centric Jack Harlow Foundation.

Harlow was a fixture at last year’s Kentucky Derby. Just like this year, he was fresh off an album release, Come Home The Kids Miss You, and he filmed the video to his and Drake’s “Churchill Downs” during a glamorous day at Churchill Downs. People are still talking about Harlow getting carried across the track:

Today, May 6, Harlow is back to enjoy the 149th Kentucky Derby. He reportedly walked the red carpet and declined to do any press.

However, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear used the Derby red carpet to gush over Harlow and why the two have become unlikely friends, according to Matthew Glowicki of the Courier-Journal:

“Jack and I have become friends. What I love about him is he could live anywhere in the country right now — he’s on the top of the world — and he chose to move back. He chose Kentucky. He chose Louisville,” Beshear said. “He’s here, and it’s thrilling. I, of course, thought our friendship was a closely held secret, and then I woke up one morning and a song apparently put it out there.”

The presumption is that Harlow references Governor Beshear on his Jackman track “It Can’t Be” when he raps about “havin’ dinner in Frankfort with Andy.” (Frankfort is Kentucky’s capital city.)

Harlow got into the Derby spirit at the Barnstable Brown Gala on Friday, May 5. According to People, Harlow “arrived to plenty of screams from his hometown fans, as he posed for selfies and even signed a few items while surrounded by police officers.”

See pics from the Barnstable Brown Gala below.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.