Trump inauguration: Stars who averted President Trump’s first inauguration flock again to Washington

Nation singer Carrie Underwood (R) with US Vice President JD Vance (L) and US President Donald Trump (C) after performing ‘America the Lovely’ throughout their inauguration ceremony within the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025.
| Picture Credit score: Reuters

Carrie Underwood may not be Beyoncé or Garth Brooks within the movie star celebrity ecosystem. However the singer’s participation in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is nonetheless an indication of the altering tides, the place mainstream entertainers, from Nelly to The Village Individuals are extra enthusiastically associating with the brand new administration.

Eight years in the past, Mr. Trump reportedly struggled to enlist stars to be a part of the swearing-in and the assorted glitzy balls that observe. The concurrent protest marches across the nation had extra well-known entertainers than the swearing-in, which stood in stark distinction to somebody like Barack Obama, whose second inaugural ceremony had performances from Beyoncé, James Taylor, and Kelly Clarkson and a sequence of starry onlookers.

There have been at all times some movie star Trump supporters, like Child Rock, Hulk Hogan, Jon Voight, Rosanne Barr, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, and Dennis Rodman, to call just a few. However Mr. Trump’s victory this time round was decisive and whereas Hollywood could at all times skew largely liberal, the slate of names collaborating in his inauguration weekend occasions has improved.

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Child Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Village Individuals, and Lee Greenwood all carried out at a MAGA fashion rally on Sunday. These acting at inaugural balls embody the rapper Nelly, nation music band Rascal Flatts, nation singer Jason Aldean, and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw.

Altering tides

“The people who find themselves popping out and collaborating straight are nonetheless a small subset of all the universe of what we name movie star,” mentioned Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse College. “However we’re seeing much more celebrities who’re popping out and supporting Trump”.

Even some who’ve publicly criticised Mr. Trump previously appear to have modified course. One of many highest-profile examples is the rapper Snoop Dogg, who in a 2017 music video pretended to shoot a Trump lookalike, after which this weekend carried out at a pre-Inaugural occasion known as The Crypto Ball.

There should be a tinge of stigma, nevertheless. Mr. Thompson pointed to the assertion from The Village Individuals, wherein they provided a justification for his or her involvement, which he likened to an apologia.

Additionally, Mr. Thompson mentioned, “the thought of being featured in an enormous nationwide civic ritual maybe can transcend political id.”

The participation of individuals like Underwood just isn’t going to vary anybody’s thoughts about Mr. Trump, Mr. Thompson mentioned. It might, nevertheless, change minds concerning the artist. On social media, some declared they have been going to delete Underwood’s songs from their playlists.

The place Mr. Trump as soon as emphasised the otherness of a Hollywood that largely shunned him, he’s now turned his consideration again to the leisure capital as a undertaking to be saved. He named Stallone, Voight, and Mel Gibson as his chosen “ambassadors” for the mission. Mr. Thompson mentioned it seems like an Onion headline or one thing on Saturday Evening Stay . That, or a logline for the most recent installment within the Expendables franchise.

Following the election, movie star detractors have additionally been quieter than in 2017, when nationwide marches introduced out the likes of Cher, Madonna, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, and Janelle Monae. The Individuals’s March in D.C. on Saturday didn’t boast about any movie star contributors. On the Golden Globe Awards in early January, Mr. Trump’s title was not talked about on stage — a stark distinction to 2017, when Meryl Streep used her lifetime achievement award speech to decry the President-elect earlier than his first time period started.

“They’ve gone via these processes, and it turned out that none of it ever made any little bit of distinction,” Mr. Thompson mentioned. “All of this movie star speaking towards Trump and all the celebrities going for (Joe) Biden and talking about the way forward for democracy not solely didn’t make any distinction towards the result of the election, however one might argue that it truly meant that issues moved within the different route.”