The upcoming Great American State Fair has been hit with a wave of cancellations, as more artists are pulling out of the “Freedom 250” event after concerns emerged over the festival’s links to Donald Trump. Two more acts have announced they won’t be participating...
It’s not looking too good for The Great American State Fair, an event due to take place this summer at the National Mall in Washington, DC.
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Part of the events designed to mark the United States of America’s 250th birthday, the “Freedom 250” celebration revealed its line-up of artists this week.
The billing was... Well, as one online commentator put it, “the worst lineup of musical acts I have ever seen.”
It included Vanilla Ice, Martina McBride, The Commodores, C+C Music Factory, Young MC, Morris Day, Poison’s Bret Michaels, Flo Rida and Fab Morvan - the surviving member of the lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli.
As we reported yesterday, it didn’t take long before several artists announced that they would not be performing. Morris Day, best known as the lead singer of The Time (a group associated with Prince), took to Instagram to dispel the rumour he’d be playing, while Young MC also dropped out, saying that the artists “were never told about any political involvement with the event”.
Indeed, there was some confusion over the fair’s MAGA-affiliation – as well as the fact that “Freedom 250” is funded through a public-private partnership with funding from Trump-aligned tech firms Palantir and Oracle and federal contractors Deloitte and Lockheed Martin, among others. It is currently facing growing scrutiny from watchdog groups and members of Congress over the use of federal dollars for Trump-aligned events.
Now, the musical acts are continuing to drop like flies, with soul band The Commodores (once fronted by Lionel Richie) cancelling their appearance, and country musician Martina McBride also pulling the plug.
“Our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party,” the band said in a social media statement. “We support the betterment of all Americans.”
As for McBride, she posted on social media that she was “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”
The celebrated country star said she “asked lots of questions” before signing on, and believed it was a “great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can.” She added that after the announcement, “things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.”
By our count, that’s four out of nine performers who have cancelled so far.
One who will definitely be performing, however, is Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan.
“I am here to entertain and unite people, not divide them,” Morvan said in a statement to Consequence. “Let’s celebrate life and music and take a trip down memory lane. I feel honored to be a part of the Great American State Fair as it will celebrate the 250 Year Anniversary of America with so many other accomplished artists. Looking forward to reconnecting with you across the USA this summer and to finally sing Milli Vanilli songs live in person!”
Elsewhere, Vanilla Ice – who previously performed at several New Year’s Eve parties at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate - has also promised he will performing.
“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!” a representative for the rapper told the Associated Press. “Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate USA’s Birthday and our Freedom!”
Then, Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory posted a bizarre video to Instagram, in which he said he had not initially been informed of any connection to Trump when booked for the event, but still intended to perform despite backlash.
He filmed the video whilst on the toilet.
He added, with plenty of profanity, that the backlash to event made him want to perform.
“I don’t fuck with Trump. I don’t give a fuck about Trump… I know the type of fucking anarchy he creates. But the day I let you motherfuckers tell me what to do, is the day I die.”
The Great American State Fair starts on 25 June and takes place until 10 July. Freedom 250 organisers continue to maintain that the event is nonpartisan.
