Singer Jennifer Holliday announced
Saturday that she has canceled plans to perform at a pre-inaugural
concert for President-elect Donald Trump.
The Tony-winning Dreamgirls star
reversed course following publication of a The New York Times
story noting that Holliday was among the few non-country artists
scheduled to perform at Thursday's “Make America Great Again!
Welcome Celebration” at the Lincoln Memorial.
“I'm singing on the mall for the
people,” Holliday is quoted as saying by the Times. “I
don't have a dog in this fight – I'm just a singer, and it's a
welcome concert for the people on the mall.”
Holliday, who has a devoted LGBT fan
base, issued an apology to her “beloved LGBT community.”
“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,” she wrote.
“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.”
“I sincerely apologize for my lapse
of judgement, 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,” Holliday
added.
Holliday has performed for several
presidents, including Ronald Reagan, both Bushes and Bill Clinton.