Eight years ago, stars avoided Trump’s inauguration. This time it’s different

WASHINGTON (AP) — Carrie Underwood maybe not Beyoncé or Garth Brooks in the celebrity superstar ecosystem. But the singer’s participation in the elected presidency Donald Trump’s inauguration is nonetheless a sign of changing tides, where mainstream artists, from Nelly The people of the village associated themselves more publicly and with more enthusiasm with the new administration.

Eight years ago, Trump would have struggled to recruit stars to attend the swearing-in and the various lavish balls that followed. The simultaneous protest marches across the country featured more famous artists than the swearing-in, in stark contrast to someone like Barack Obama, whose second inaugural ceremony took place with performances from Beyoncé, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson and a star-studded line-up of spectators.

There have always been famous Trump supporters, like Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Jon Voight, Rosanne Barr, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, and Dennis Rodman, to name a few. But this time around, Trump’s victory was decisive, and while Hollywood may still be largely liberal, the list of names attending inauguration weekend events has improved.

Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Village People and Lee Greenwood all performed at a MAGA-style rally on Sunday. Among those performing at the inaugural balls are rapper Nelly, country music group Rascal Flatts, country singer Jason Aldean and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw.

“People who come out and participate directly are still a small subset of the entire universe of what we call celebrity,” said Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. “But we’re seeing a lot more celebrities coming out to support Trump. There may not be this distinct division that we’ve seen before.

Even those who have publicly criticized Trump in the past appear to have changed course. One of the most high-profile examples is that of rapper Snoop Dogg, who in a 2017 music video pretended to film a Trump lookalike and then performed this weekend at a pre- inaugural called The Crypto Ball. When a social media user posted a video of his performance, his name quickly became a trending topic on social media, to much disbelief and outrage.

However, there may still be some stigma. Thompson pointed to the Village People’s statement, in which they offered a justification for their involvement, which he likened to an apology.

Furthermore, Thompson said, “the idea of ​​participating in a great national civic ritual can perhaps transcend political identity.”

The participation of people like Underwood won’t change people’s minds about Trump, Thompson said. This could, however, change your mind about the artist. On social media, some people said they were going to remove Underwood’s songs from their playlists.

Where Trump once emphasized the otherness of a Hollywood that largely eschewed him, he now turns his attention to the entertainment capital as a project worth saving. He named Stallone, Voight and Mel Gibson as his “ambassadors” chosen for the mission. Thompson said it sounded like an Onion song or something on “Saturday Night Live.” That, or a logline for the latest installment in the “Expendables” franchise.

After the election, celebrity critics have also been quieter than in 2017, when nationwide protests featured Cher, Madonna, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys and Janelle Monae. The popular march in DC on Saturday boasted no famous attendees. At Golden Globe Awards In early January, Trump’s name was not mentioned on stage – a stark contrast to 2017, when Meryl Streep used her lifetime achievement award speech to criticize the president-elect before the start of his first term .

“They went through these processes, and it turned out none of it ever made a difference,” Thompson said. “All these celebrities speaking against Trump and all the celebrities supporting (Joe) Biden and talking about the future of democracy not only made no difference to the outcome of the election, but one could argue that it actually meant reality that things have moved in the other direction.

Friday evening in Washington, the nonpartisan nonprofit The Creative Coalition brought together some stakeholders to raise money and celebrate organizations that support service members and their families.

“I’m a big fan of nonpartisan, nonpolitical things,” comedian Jeff Ross said. “I speak dirty for a living and I strongly believe in freedom of speech. The army protects my right.

Artists remained largely focused on the current event, not the new administration, although they expressed concerns about funding from the National Endowment of the Arts.

“The NEA has always been in jeopardy, no matter what administration comes in. But it seems like the new administration will probably be more aggressive in cutting arts funding,” said actor Steven Weber. “They don’t realize that it’s an essential part of not only our education, but the lifeblood of this culture.”

A Monday event will have a bit of celebrity counterprogramming – the Concert for America, not as a protest but as a fundraiser for wildfire relief, to be held simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles and will be broadcast live around the world. Participants include Jon Cryer, Lisa Joyner, Conan O’Brien, Julie Bowen, Adam Scott, Wayne Brady and Rosie Perez. In addition to shows and comedy, it will also highlight organizations dedicated to protecting human rights.

Producers Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson started the event in 2017, also held on Inauguration Day, to raise money for organizations and nonprofits they thought could use help over the next four years.

“It’s not just about calling people to action, but also about giving them hope, inspiration and feeling connected,” Jackson said.

They had no difficulty recruiting artists to participate, Jackson said. The only ones who refused the offer did so because they were working.

“I don’t see this as a counter-effort,” Rudetsky said. “I see this as a way to get rid of annoying rhetoric and hatred that has no basis in anything. It’s a question of unity.