On Wednesday, the organization Freedom 250 announced a lineup of nine artists scheduled to perform at the 16-day patriotic bash on the National Mall called the Great American State Fair. Immediately, the concert series began falling apart. Most of the artists pulled out, saying they’d felt misled by organizers. They thought they were performing at a nonpartisan celebration of the nation’s birthday—and had not been informed that Freedom 250 was an organization closely tied to Donald Trump.
Now, the Great American State Fair seems to be melting down, in a bizarre situation that involves dueling semiquincentennial celebrations, a congressional probe into possibly shady fundraising practices, apparently empty concert stages, and one very weird rant recorded to Instagram from the toilet. Here are all your questions about this fiasco, answered.
Is the Great American State Fair really partisan?
One could certainly make that argument. The organization sponsoring the Great American State Fair is not America250, the nonpartisan entity created by Congress to administer the country’s semiquincentennial celebrations. It’s Freedom 250 (officially the “White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday”), an organization created by President Trump, and run by a Trump appointee, which the president said would “give America the most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen.”
Why is Freedom 250 controversial?
Freedom 250 is yet another Trump-world fundraising vehicle (like the White House ballroom or the inauguration) that grants big donors access to the president. For one million dollars or more, for example, donors to Freedom 250 can secure an invitation to a private reception hosted by Trump himself. As the New York Times explained earlier this year, Freedom 250 allows “people and companies with interests before the Trump administration” to make “tax-deductible donations to gain access to, and seek favor with, a president who has maintained a keen interest in fund-raising, and a willingness to use the levers of government power to reward financial supporters.” In February, a group of Democratic senators launched a probe into the fundraising practices of Freedom 250, writing that “Government-sponsored civic commemorations should not serve as platforms for political messaging or partisan activity, nor should they create opportunities for donors to exert influence with federal decision-makers under the guise of patriotic celebration.”
Furthermore, some critics are concerned that Freedom 250 might put an odd Trumpian spin on America’s birthday. Freedom 250 is sponsoring a number of controversial projects—including the IndyCar race through the streets of DC and the UFC fight scheduled to occur on the White House lawn—that have partisan cultural coding and little connection to American history. In a congressional hearing, US Representative Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California, accused Freedom 250 of trying to “hijack the country’s 250th anniversary” and “rewrite history.”
So, what’s going on with the concert cancellations?
Given that it’s Trump-backed Freedom 250 (and not nonpartisan America250) that’s sponsoring the Great American State Fair, the event has become somewhat politically toxic. As of this writing, three of the nine performers appear to be still scheduled, five have backed out, and one put out a statement that left us a little confused. Here are the details:
Not Performing:
Martina McBride: “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,” the country star wrote in a Thursday Instagram post. “I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states.” She added that “what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening,” but she hopes to “get back to the DC area very soon.”
Bret Michaels: Despite being notably Trumpy, the Poison frontman pulled out of the Great American State Fair on Friday, citing the event’s divisiveness and his growing safety concerns. “When this opportunity was originally presented to my team,” Michaels wrote on Instagram, “it was described as a celebration of our country through music.” Unfortunately, he continued, the event “has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of.” Michaels stressed that his decision isn’t about politics and he’s happy to return to DC to perform “under circumstances where the focus can remain on what it should be—the music and the fans.”
Young MC: “I have informed my agents that I will not be performing at the Freedom 250 event,” the hip-hop star wrote on Instagram, claiming that “the artists were never told about any political involvement” and that he read in SPIN magazine that the event was “Trump-backed.” He says he hopes to perform in DC at “an event that is not so politically charged.”
Morris Day & the Time: On Instagram, Morris Day posted that “contrary to rumor,” he will not be performing at the Great American State Fair. “It’s a no for me,” he wrote in the caption, followed by the smiling-with-sunglasses emoji.
The Commodores: In an Instagram post on Thursday, the Commodores pulled out. “Our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party,” the group wrote. “We support the betterment of all Americans.”
Apparently Performing:
Vanilla Ice: Trump-loving Vanilla Ice is “super honored to do this concert with everybody,” according to a high-energy TikTok that he appears to have recorded from a construction site. He promises to “bring back the ’90s” during this “magical event” to celebrate America’s “two-fiddy.”
Milli Vanilli: Fab Morvan, the surviving member of ‘90s pop duo Milli Vanilli, said in a statement on Thursday that he would still be performing at the Great American State Fair: “I am here to entertain and unite people, not divide them,” he said. “Let’s celebrate life & music and take a trip down memory lane.” But is Morvan actually Milli Vanilli? After the group’s lip-synching scandal, Morvan stopped performing under the Milli Vanilli name. And now, some of the vocalists who recorded the tracks to which he lip-synched—and who have toured under the name “the Real Milli Vanilli”—are claiming to actually be Milli Vanilli. They have said they would not be performing at the Great American State Fair.
Flo Rida: Flo Rida is the only artist from the lineup who hasn’t publicly made a statement about his plans. He did, however, do something cryptic on Instagram: Beneath a video of him clowning with band members in Belgium, one user commented “Performing for Trump? Why??” and Flo Rida’s account replied with a series of laughing emojis. Presumably, he’s still performing—but he did drop out of the 2015 Miss USA pageant amid backlash to Trump’s remarks about Mexican immigrants, so we’ll see.
Bewilderingly Unclear:
C+C Music Factory: In a strange, profanity-laden Instagram video that appears to have been recorded from the toilet, frontman Freedom Williams claims that his agent didn’t mention Trump when he booked the Great American State Fair concert; all Williams knew was that he’d agreed to do “a show in Washington,” which seemed fine. “I don’t fuck with Trump,” he said multiple times. But he also said he’d “vote for Genghis Khan, Hitler, or Ivan the Terrible” or “do a show in North Korea pissing on an American flag” before he let the public tell him what to do. Williams stressed that he is un-cancellable. “I just might do it,” seems to be where he’s landed on the Great American State Fair.
And where does this leave the Great American State Fair?
The event is now notably devoid of performers—just three acts left for 16 nights—but after a rough couple years at the Kennedy Center, the administration has some practice with navigating artist cancellations. Perhaps they’ll figure it out.
