In a completely surprising development, the fans of Broadway star Jennifer Holliday were not thrilled she had accepted an invitation to perform at Trump’s inauguration. After a backlash from her fans, Holliday has backed out and will no longer appear at the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” concert she’d been booked for. Holliday originated the role of Effie White in Dreamgirls during its initial Broadway run in 1981 and scored a No. 1 R&B hit with her recording of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”
The Wrap reports that Holliday changed her mind about performing at the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” after reading an article in the Daily Beast that enumerated the dangers Trump and Pence pose to the LGBT community and harshly criticized Holliday’s decision to celebrate their administration:
For the gay community that has bolstered Holliday’s, in her own words, embattled and difficult career and cheered on her recent successes, the news feels like a betrayal. It is heartbreaking.
Holliday wrote an open letter to her fans apologizing profusely, reading, in part:
I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgment, for being uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans.
Here’s the remaining lineup for the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration,” which is definitely not embarrassing for Trump, the incoming president who, just to be clear, is having an event called the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration”:
Toby Keith, the singer/songwriter behind the immortal lyric, “We’ll put a boot in your ass/ It’s the American way.”
Jon Voight, George Washington from An American Carol!
The Piano Guys, a Utah-based quartet that was founded by a piano store owner, according to their website, “to engage potential customers with music videos that were entertaining and that showcased the pianos he had in his store—envisioning ‘viral videos’ doing his marketing for him!”
Lee Greenwood: Lee Greenwood! Lee Greenwood! Lee Greenwood!
The Frontmen of Country: Look out world: The frontmen from Little Texas, Restless Heart, and Diamond Rio have combined forces!
RaviDrums: aka Ravi Jakhotia, the sole remaining person of color performing at the event. Here’s a video he made to raise money for the children of slain police officers and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, so maybe he’ll find some way to have this both ways too.
3 Doors Down: Remember “Kryptonite?” Remember?
Look, we’re not gonna lie to you: This is a really grim lineup. It’s the kind of thing that would be really humiliating to an incoming president who based his own self-worth on his status as a celebrity. But there’s still time to turn it around: All Trump has to do is book C.S. Lewis Jr., the one singer beloved by left and right alike.
Here’s Holliday’s complete statement:
TO MY BELOVED LGBT COMMUNITY:
Please allow me this opportunity to speak to you directly and to explain why I originally made my decision to perform at the inauguration which was what I had thought would be my simply keeping in my tradition of being a “bi-partisan songbird” having sung for Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush.
I was asked to sing a song for what was presented to me as the “Welcome Concert For The People”—in my mind I was reflecting on the past times of being asked to sing for presidents and I only focused on the phrase “For The People”… I thought, For America!
I was honestly just thinking that I wanted my voice to be a healing and unifying force for hope through music to help our deeply polarized country… Regretfully, I did not take into consideration that my performing for the concert would actually instead be taken as a political act against my own personal beliefs and be mistaken for support of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
In light of the information pointed out to me via the Daily Beast article on yesterday, my only choice must now be to stand with the LGBT Community and to state unequivocally that I WILL NOT PERFORM FOR THE WELCOME CONCERT OR FOR ANY OF THE INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES!
I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgment, for being uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans.
Please know that I HEAR YOU and I feel your pain. The LGBT Community was mostly responsible for birthing my career and I am deeply indebted to you … You have loved me faithfully and unconditionally and for so many years you provided me with work even though my star had long since faded.
Thank you for communicating with me, I had no idea that I still meant so much to all of you.
Thank you for your posted comments both the good supportive ones as well as the ugly hurtful ones.
With LOVE & Appreciation,
JENNIFER HOLLIDAY
“The Original DreamGirl”
