By LINDSEY BAHR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Carrie Underwood might not be Beyoncé or Garth Brooks in the celebrity superstar ecosystem. But the singer’s participation in President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is nevertheless a sign of the changing tides, where mainstream entertainers, from Nelly to The Village People are more publicly and more enthusiastically associating with the new administration.
Eight years ago, Trump reportedly struggled to enlist stars to be part of the swearing-in and the various glitzy balls that follow. The concurrent protest marches around the nation had more famous entertainers than the swearing-in, which stood in stark contrast to someone like Barack Obama, whose second inaugural ceremony had performances from Beyoncé, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson and a series of starry onlookers.
There were always some celebrity Trump supporters, like Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Jon Voight, Rosanne Barr, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone and Dennis Rodman, to name a few. But Trump’s victory this time around was decisive and while Hollywood may always skew largely liberal, the slate of names participating in his inauguration weekend events has improved.
Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Village People and Lee Greenwood all performed at a MAGA style rally Sunday. Those performing at inaugural balls include the rapper Nelly, country music band Rascal Flatts, country singer Jason Aldean and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw.
“The people who are coming out and participating 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 who are coming out and supporting Trump. There may not be that distinct division that we saw before.”
Even some who have publicly criticized Trump in the past seem to have changed course. One of the highest-profile examples is the rapper Snoop Dogg, who in a 2017 music video pretended to shoot a Trump lookalike, and then this weekend performed at a pre-Inaugural event 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 with a fair amount of disbelief and outrage.
There may still be a tinge of stigma, however. Thompson pointed to the statement from The Village People, in which they offered a justification for their involvement, which he likened to an apologia.
Also, Thompson said, “the idea of being featured in a big national civic ritual perhaps can transcend political identity.”
The participation of people like Underwood is not going to change anyone’s mind about Trump, Thompson said. It could, however, change minds about the artist. On social media, some declared they were going to delete Underwood’s songs from their playlists.
Where Trump once emphasized the otherness of a Hollywood that largely shunned him, he’s now turned his attention back to the entertainment capital as a project to be saved. He named Stallone, Voight and Mel Gibson as his chosen “ambassadors” for the mission. Thompson said it sounds like an Onion headline or something on “Saturday Night Live.” That, or a logline for the latest installment in the “Expendables” franchise.
Following the election, celebrity detractors have also been quieter than in 2017, when nationwide marches brought out the likes of Cher, Madonna, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys and Janelle Monae. The People’s March in D.C. on Saturday did not boast about any celebrity participants. At the 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 decry the president-elect before his first term began.
“They’ve gone through these processes, and it turned out that none of it ever made any bit of difference,” Thompson said. “All of this celebrity talking against Trump and all of the celebrities going for (Joe) Biden and speaking about the future of democracy not only didn’t make any difference toward the outcome of the election, but one could argue that it actually meant that things moved in the other direction.”
On Friday night in D.C., the nonpartisan nonprofit The Creative Coalition brought together some actors to raise money for and celebrate organizations that support military service members and their families.
“I’m a big fan of things that are nonpartisan, nonpolitical,” said comedian Jeff Ross. “I talk smack for a living and I’m a big believer in free speech. The military protects my right.”
The entertainers stayed largely focused on the event at hand, not the incoming administration, although they did express concern about funding for the National Endowment of the Arts.
“The NEA has always been in peril, regardless of what administration comes in. But it feels like the incoming administration will probably be more aggressive in cutting down funding for the arts,” said actor Steven Weber. “They don’t realize that it’s an essential component not only in our education, but in the life blood of this culture.”
One Monday event will have a bit of celebrity counterprogramming — the Concert for America, not as protest but as fundraiser for wildfire relief which will be held simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles and livestreamed to the world. Participants include Jon Cryer, Lisa Joyner, Conan O’Brien, Julie Bowen, Adam Scott, Wayne Brady and Rosie Perez. In addition to performances 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 non-profits they thought would need help over the next four years.
“It’s not only to give people a call to action, but also to give them hope, inspiration and to feel connected,” Jackson said.
They didn’t have trouble recruiting entertainers to participate, Jackson said. The only ones who declined did so because they were working.
“I don’t see it as a counter effort,” Rudetsky said. “I see it as a way to get rid of the annoying rhetoric and the hate that’s based on nothing. It’s about unity.”