Amid the backlash, Nelly is defending her decision to perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural ball after his swearing-in on Monday.
The 50-year-old rapper sat down with Willie D on a YouTube stream on Saturday after it was revealed that he would be performing at the Liberty Ball, one of the three official inaugural balls on Inauguration Day. He said he is “not political” and that his performance was not meant to support Trump.
“I respect the office,” Nelly said. “This isn’t politics. Politics is over for me. He won. He’s the president. He’s the commander-in-chief of what I would say is the best country in the world.”
The “Hot in Here” artist went on to say, “It would be an honor for me to perform for the President of the United States, regardless of who is in office.”
“If President Biden had asked me to appear, I would have appeared. If Vice President Kamala Harris had won and asked me to appear, I would have appeared.”
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The three-time Grammy Award winner, who describes himself as an independent, dismissed the criticism he received, saying, “I’ve had a lot of backlash throughout my career. I don’t care about that.”
Nelly: Rapper attends Trump inauguration with other artists
When asked directly during the broadcast if he was a Trump supporter, Nelly reiterated, “Regardless of who is in office, I support the president of the United States. I respect the president.”
In the YouTube comments section, many fans were not happy with Nelly’s explanation.
One comment read: “Nelly has made a decision that he has every right to make. So have we, and my decision is not to support Nelly in any way, musical or otherwise. That’s what it says.”
Another said, “President Trump always said he respects the president, but he doesn’t even respect the president.”
Whoopi Goldberg defends Carrie Underwood’s decision to sing at President Trump’s inauguration
Nelly was the latest artist to present an inaugural performance and subsequently face criticism.
Carrie Underwood previously announced that she would sing “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration. She said in a statement: “I love this country, so I was honored to be asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. At a time when we all must come… I am humbled to be able to answer this call.” Let’s come together in a spirit of unity and look to the future. ”
After the “American Idol” star’s announcement sparked backlash, Whoopi Goldberg defended her on “The View.”
“I’m standing behind her,” she said. “If I believe I have the right to decide to perform somewhere, I believe they have the same right. So I have to support (her). Not that I’m particularly interested in watching ‘I Won’, but that’s me. ”
The Village People announced they would participate in inauguration activities, but made it clear in a Facebook post that they would not support Trump in the election.
“We understand that some people may not be happy to hear this, but we believe that music should be played independently of politics,” the group said in a statement. “Our song ‘YMCA’ is a global anthem that we hope will unite the country after a chaotic and divisive campaign in which our favored candidate lost. ”
Snoop Dogg also received backlash after performing at the Inaugual Crypto Ball event in Washington, D.C., ahead of President Trump’s inauguration.
Late last year, Jelly Roll made similar comments about Nelly after receiving backlash for a video of him laughing while meeting Trump at a UFC event. On the “Dumb Blonde” podcast, the “Save Me” singer said she is “not political” but respects the office of the president.
“There’s absolutely no chance I won’t meet the next president,” Jerry Roll said. “If I had gotten a call at any time to go see Joe Biden, I would have stopped what I was doing to go see him. That’s a sitting president! I don’t care what people think. “I don’t think he even cared what I thought about him,” about his policies.
Contributor: Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY