Jennifer Holliday came under fire this week when President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration spokesman tweeted this week that the legendary singer would be performing at the upcoming ceremony. Not surprisingly, droves of angry fans blasted Holliday for agreeing to perform for the controversial political figure. Now, Holliday is firing back and explaining why she doesn’t see anything wrong with performing at the inauguration.
In a new interview, Holliday opened up about the online backlash she’s received over the last couple of days and she explained that she was honestly shocked that anyone cared that she was performing.
“I was like, nobody knows that I’m alive and then I decide to sing a song and I wake up and they all hate me,” she said.
Holliday, who has performed in the past at several inaugurations for presidents from both parties, explained that she didn’t support Trump during his campaign and that she isn’t picking a side by performing; she is simply performing for the American people, not Trump.
“I haven’t even endorsed anything,” she says, “I’m not singing for Donald Trump; I’m singing to welcome the people of America. He cannot be the only face that’s gonna represent us. And just to have all White people up there singing is not going to be a fair representation either. So you’re just saying don’t go? Really? I’m just very disheartened by it that it would be so much hate.”
Holliday then explained how her choice to perform at the inauguration is a perfect example of President Obama’s message of unity and inclusion.
“I didn’t hear any of that [hate] spewed from the Obamas,” she says. “I thought that they told us to move on and try to be hopeful and make this a smooth transition. I didn’t understand that the orders were a wink and a nod to make sure that America doesn’t succeed or that Trump doesn’t succeed. … I thought we were just trying to pull together.”
What do you think of Holliday agreeing to perform at the inauguration? Let us know in the comments.
