“You wake up and everybody hates you.” How would you feel if one night everyone loves you and the next morning you are the most hated. Tony award winning star, Jennifer Holliday, expresses how it seems she became one of the most hated people in the United States because of her agreement to sing at Donald Trumps Inauguration. As if the pressure weren’t already hard enough performing after the iconic Beyonce’s performances for the former president Obama, Jennifer Holliday’s battle would be more off-stage then on it. Holiday explains to The View how she simply agreed to perform “because I’m an artist and I love America.” This excuse however wasn’t enough for anti-Trump supporters. She received several death threats and was even called the “n-word.” Though she has performed for four presidents before, she argues that she didn’t think that singing for Trump would cause any negativity—as unbelievable as that sounds. But is she really wrong for accepting an invitation just as she had in the previous presidential invitations? Or could she be persecuted so severely because she was a woman. We all know women are held to different standards here in America and around the world. Perhaps a woman whom chooses to perform for Trump while thousands protest in the streets during the Women’s March could’ve been a slap in the face to many. Does she deserve the hate tweets and mail that came her way, no, but she must take full responsibility it choices she makes. She must have known that some backlash would come with singing at his inauguration. Holliday received much hate, and she didn’t even set foot on the stage to sing. She reportedly backed out of her agreement when she saw an article stating the LGBT community’s was disappointed in her decision stating that she wouldn’t disrespect their loyalty to her for 35 years.
On another note, though Jennifer Holliday’s backlash was the most publicized, she was not the only person whom received it. Country singer, Toby Keith and 16 year old Jackie Evancho both received backlash about their performances. Both stating in some way that their performances did not mean they necessarily supported Trump’s beliefs or plans.
Sam Moore and Jennifer Holiday seemed to be only two African Americans that were in the mix for Trump’s inauguration. Unlike Holliday, there were articles on Sam Moore praising his performance saying “he saved the embarrassing inaugural performances.” Though the legend accepted and performed, he didn’t receive as much hate mail as Holliday. Anyone else find that interesting? It is unclear why her acceptance of the invitation received the most controversy, but her decision not to participate perhaps protected her career and her dignity. Moore spoke on his behalf stating that he has never seen this kind of social pressures in his lifetime to cause stars to skip a political event of this magnitude. He even said he was honored. Moore’s message during the performance tells people that we must come together and work with our new President. Everyone has their own way of dealing with things and no one deserves hate when they have not given hate. So why was so much hate given to Holliday? The world may never know.