Award-winning singer Jennifer Holliday will no longer be performing at President-elect Trump’s inauguration celebration on Thursday after receiving backlash following the announcement.
Holliday announced in an open letter on Saturday that she’s decided against performing and apologized to her fans.
“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!” Holliday wrote.
“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.”
Holliday was slated to perform alongside country artist Toby Keith, rock band 3 Doors Down, Lee Greenwood and others at the Thursday celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.
She said she was “uneducated” on Trump’s controversial political positions and wanted her gay fans to know that she is sympathetic to their concerns.
“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,” she wrote.
