Why artists keep bailing on Trump-backed concerts for America's 250th

[0:00] Huge celebrations that they're planning for for America 250, a big concert that's supposed to take place. [0:06] Several of the artists, though, who were announced to perform are now pulling out of this. [0:11] And just a few of them, Morris Day wrote on Facebook, it's a no for me. [0:16] We've got Brett Michaels citing a similar issue, saying that unfortunately what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of. [0:26] Others have said, Young MC, I have informed my agents that I will not be performing. [0:30] They were not told about any political involvement in this event. [0:32] I mean, you could see on and on there are multiple artists here who say, I thought this was going to be just a patriotic celebration. [0:38] And now fear that it is becoming political. [0:41] Yeah, well, one of the artists that he had booked was Milli Vanilli, who were notorious for being a fake Grammy recording band. [0:49] So it's a it's a problem for an administration that I think people look at and say, what's real inside this administration? [0:55] They're even booking fake musical acts to come and perform. [0:59] The president, for the 250th anniversary, should be finding ways to bring us together. [1:03] But we are finding he's doing things like wanting to produce a $250 bill with his face on it. [1:09] Those aren't things that unite the country around something that we should all be cheering for. [1:14] Instead, there's sort of sticking his finger in the eye of people who disagree with him at a time when he should be bringing us together. [1:19] We did hear from Vanilla Ice Scott, who said this on TikTok about the event. [1:24] I'm honored to do this concert with everybody. [1:30] We're going to bring back the 90s. [1:31] Put your dancing shoes on. [1:33] We don't take anything too serious, man. [1:34] We're going to bring the 90s. [1:35] That's how it works. [1:36] Go, ninja. [1:37] Go, ninja. [1:37] Go. [1:40] Scott, what do you make of that? [1:42] Well, I think we should all stop, collaborate and listen to Vanilla Ice. [1:45] He's excited about this. [1:47] And we should all be excited about this. [1:48] Now, when you're a Republican and you start dealing with Hollywood and the entertainment industry, it gets very dicey because any time they come into contact with Republicans, all their peers and all the people out in Hollywood and that industry come down on them hard. [2:01] That's obviously what's happened here. [2:03] I personally would love to hear a lot of military bands. [2:05] I'd love to hear patriotic marches and that kind of music. [2:08] So, you know, chasing these acts sometimes is a little bit of a risky business for Republicans. [2:12] I don't know why they're pulling out. [2:14] This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with America's 250th anniversary. [2:18] The only people making it divisive are the Democrats who seem to be criticizing every single thing Trump wants to do to celebrate the country's birthday. [2:26] They're fun haters. [2:27] They're fun vacuums. [2:29] They don't love America as much as Donald Trump. [2:31] They're still sourpusses that he's the president while this awesome celebration is going on. [2:35] That's what I think is happening. [2:36] Jamal is a Democrat. [2:37] He just said he's fine with UFC. [2:38] Caitlin, I will say this. [2:40] Whatever happens, Democrats are way more likely to have fun than Republicans. [2:44] I think most people would agree with that. [2:45] We'll have that debate another time. [2:47] It's been billed as the ultimate birthday party for America. [2:51] But tonight, the Trump-backed Freedom 250 concert series, well, it's unraveling. [2:56] Only 48 hours after the lineup was even announced. [3:00] From country stars to hip-hop legends, a wave of artists are bailing out. [3:06] All who claim that they were tricked into a partisan rally. [3:10] Let's discuss now with former advisor to President George W. Bush and the late Senator John McCain, Mark McKinnon. [3:17] Also here, LA Times columnist and the host of the LZ Granderson Show podcast, LZ Granderson. [3:23] Good to see both of you here. [3:25] LZ, I want to begin with you because we're already seeing administration officials blame this on woke pressure, cancel culture. [3:34] Really? [3:37] You know, it's so unfortunate. [3:40] I went back to take a look at how we celebrated 200. [3:44] And, you know, the president of the time, Gerald Ford, got into the White House under very, you know, shaky circumstances. [3:50] Don't need to relive all of history. [3:52] But it was so cool to think about how we celebrated 200, even facing all the terrible things that we were going through as a nation. [4:00] Elvis Presley performed. [4:02] The Eagles performed. [4:03] Elton John performed. [4:05] Some of the biggest names in music were on the stage helping us celebrate 200. [4:09] And here we are now going, oh, no, Vanilla Ice and Float Rider, the only two left. [4:14] I mean, what happened? [4:16] I mean, that's a big question, Mark. [4:19] I want you to pick it up because when Trump ran in 2024, I mean, a lot of ink was spilled about him having tapped into pop culture. [4:27] Now you see a lot of people who don't want him to use their songs in campaigns and beyond. [4:33] He was annoyed about who was performing at inaugurations and beyond. [4:37] And to LZ's point, a lot has changed in 50 years of who is now doing it. [4:41] There were so many takes on MAGA being cool. [4:45] But is this a boycott of the concert? [4:47] Is it a sign that he is losing those vibes? [4:53] Well, let me provide some context. [4:55] Republicans have never tapped into musical pop culture, really. [4:59] Not broadly, anyway. [5:01] I used to be a songwriter in Nashville. [5:03] Not a very good one. [5:04] That's why I got into politics. [5:06] But because I had a musical background, I worked for Bush and McKinnon and other Republicans. [5:11] Because I was the guy at the conventions that they put in charge of getting the music. [5:15] Now, here's what happens. [5:16] You're in charge of the music. [5:18] So everybody and everybody says, oh, we want the Rolling Stones. [5:21] We want Beyonce. [5:22] We want Bono. [5:23] And you can imagine the list of what they're asked for for me to go get for a Republican convention. [5:28] And two months later, I come back and I say, I've got Wayne Newton, I've got the Oak Ridge Boys, and I've got Lee Greenwood. [5:35] And that's it. [5:36] And in Republican circles, that's all you're going to get musically. [5:39] Now, Trump has just doubled down on that and made it worse because it's just politicized. [5:44] And it's really interesting to read these stories and the conflict between managers and agents and the musicians themselves. [5:50] Because often it's all, you know, the deals are cut through the agents. [5:55] And then it gets to the musicians. [5:56] They're like, what the hell? [5:58] They don't want any, they don't want to be fool-sized. [6:00] All it does is divide their audience. [6:02] All right, stop. [6:03] Collaborate and listen. [6:05] Vanilla Ice is one of the acts who, see what I did there? [6:07] That was funny, fellas. [6:09] It's Friday night. [6:09] I mean, but it was hilarious. [6:12] Are you guys serious? [6:13] That you fell for it? [6:14] Vanilla Ice is one of the acts who's going to perform. [6:17] You know what? [6:18] Listen to him explain it. [6:19] I'm here to party with America, man. [6:23] Music is made to bring people together. [6:25] If Biden called up, hey, and he said, my daughter's getting married, we need vanilla ice, I'd go play. [6:30] It's not a big thing. [6:32] I'll go play for Putin and I'll play in Iran if you want. [6:35] It don't matter. [6:36] There's fans everywhere. [6:38] Music is not political, man. [6:39] It's universal. [6:40] Just get out, shut up, and play. [6:42] That's what I say. [6:43] Okay, well, LZ, what do you say? [6:45] Because obviously the name of people he would actually perform for would get him a lot of backlash. [6:49] Is his point well taken, or should it matter who it's for? [6:55] Listen, every artist is responsible for creating the art that they create for the purposes of their own delight. [7:02] And who consumes it, they cannot control. [7:05] True. [7:05] Who you perform for, you can control. [7:07] And so, you know, if he's right in the sense that music can be, you know, embraced by everyone and that it knows no political bounds. [7:15] But there are politics, and those politics do create boundaries. [7:19] And he's kind of being flippant on the freedoms that people fought for and died for to help us secure so that we have the freedoms to have the kind of music that we can say anything that we want. [7:30] I think it's really disrespectful, Laura, that he's being so flippant about this. [7:34] If you want to have a thoughtful conversation about art and the power of music to bring people together, sure. [7:40] But you don't have to be an ass about it, especially in the week of Memorial Day. [7:44] I mean, it's just, I just, I just think it's shameful. [7:47] A concert series called Freedom 250 is quickly turning into the White House's Fyre Festival. [7:55] The reaction from most of the acts announced is given that meme where Homer Simpson is just kind of backing into the hedges. [8:02] Morris Day was one of the first we saw react to the backlash after being included in the lineup. [8:08] He denied he'd be performing, adding, it's a no for me. [8:12] Young MC calls the event a bait and switch. [8:15] He says the artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. [8:20] The Commodore has posted, our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party. [8:29] So who's left from the original lineup that was posted? [8:31] Well, Vanilla Ice is still there, so we got that. [8:35] Plus, one member of Milli Vanilli, Fab Morvan, yeah, that Milli Vanilli. [8:42] And because this story isn't strange enough, Freedom Williams, a rapper from the group CNC Music Factory, suggested, the internet believes, while he's sitting on his toilet, that he may still perform just despite critics. [8:59] Only Flo Rida has not weighed in on what he's doing yet. [9:02] Michael Harriot is with us now. [9:05] He's the founder of Contraband Camp on Substack and the author of Black AF History, the Unwhitewashed Story of America. [9:14] Michael, good to have you back on. [9:17] So let's say here there's America 250, which is the bipartisan organization that has members of the Senate and the House on it. [9:24] They're organizing their organizing thing. [9:26] And then Freedom 250 is the one that's Trump-affiliated, private-public partnership. [9:33] The president chose its CEO. [9:35] They say it's nonpartisan. [9:38] Why do you think this is falling apart? [9:42] I think because it's affiliated with this president and because he weaponizes everything. [9:50] Like, I think that had it, because remember in 1976 during the Centennial celebration, there was all kinds of stuff going on. [9:59] You know, we had, you know, discos all over the place, right? [10:03] But I think that Trump has weaponized everything so that people, one, are afraid in trying to distance themselves from this vengeful government. [10:14] And the other part is it is possible that, like, some of them don't like Donald Trump in this regime. [10:21] And so I said that Vanilla Ice is still on, so at least we'll have ninja rap for all the fans. [10:28] Here's what he said about his decision to stay on. [10:32] It's all about just us making it this far and then kind of bringing people together. [10:37] And that's what this is about. [10:38] I don't think that it should be about any political thing or anything like that. [10:41] I don't even vote, so I don't even care. [10:42] And if Biden called up, hey, and he said, my daughter's getting married, we need Vanilla Ice, I'd go play. [10:48] It's not a big thing. [10:49] You play for your fans. [10:51] You know, we don't get a chance to pick our fans. [10:53] They pick us. [10:54] And I'll go play for Putin and I'll play in Iran if you want. [10:58] It don't matter. [11:00] He'll play for Putin. [11:01] He'll play for Iran. [11:02] Is keeping politics out of it possible for most artists? [11:08] Vanilla Ice says yes. [11:09] What do you say? [11:10] Well, first of all, I think that, you know, as we know, everything is a political act, right? [11:18] Whether you're talking about, you know, government operations or not is a different thing. [11:24] But whoever you choose to show up for, right, when you're essentially showing up for free [11:29] and when you're essentially performing in service of your country, it's a political act. [11:33] And it's interesting that these people try to distance themselves from politics.