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"Because I'm an artist and I love America!" @LadyJHOLLIDAY says of why she originally planned to perform at a Trump inauguration event. pic.twitter.com/AxDOAvsLl8
— The View (@TheView) January 17, 2017
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Jennifer Holliday defended her decision to back out of her inauguration performance on Tuesday’s episode of “The View.”
The Broadway veteran wrote an open letter to fans over the weekend to apologize for the “lapse in judgement” and announce she had decided not to perform.
Holliday wrote that she was apologizing 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.”
When asked why she agreed to do the performance in the first place, Holliday told “The View” audience and co-hosts, “because I am an artist, and I love America.” Holliday previously performed at four other inaugurations, including ceremonies for Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush.
Still, she decided to defend her initial choice to perform.
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“It didn’t dawn on me that this was a bad thing, and we aren’t doing America right now,” she joked.
“The ‘lapse of judgement’ was that I didn’t realize that people weren’t really over the election,” she said in a more serious tone. “Although, Obama said, ‘Move on,’ and Oprah said, ‘Move on,’ but the people aren’t finished with this. They want closure.”
After she decided it was in her best interest to stay away from the inauguration, she revealed that she dropped an email to Donald Trump’s team to let them know she wasn’t comfortable performing.
“I didn’t call them up. I just sent an email and said that it had gotten out of hand and I was receiving death threats,” she said. “I read everything [on Twitter].”
Holliday revealed that on top of the death threats, some people resorted to name calling. She admitted that things were so bad, people were referring to her as “the n-word.”
“I am not a liar nor a hypocrite,” she said holding back tears. “I have never been called names.”
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When Holliday became emotional, Whoopi Goldberg decided to chime in and chide Donald Trump for making similar hate-filled comments on Twitter.
“It has to come from the top,” Goldberg said. “As long as he continues to do this, this is what he is leading.”
“Mr. Trump, if you want to see Jennifer perform, you should watch the rest of the show because she is going to be performing here,” she said before they went to commercial break.
When they returned from break, Holliday performed a beautiful and emotional rendition of “Come Sunday.”
