Jennifer Holliday Won't Perform at Inauguration

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Broadway goddess and original Dream Girl Jennifer Holliday has formally canceled her plans to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration next week. In an open letter to TheWrap she said her original decision to perform was a “lapse of judgement.”

The letter was sent to her "beloved LGBT community" and in it she admitted that she was “uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans."

Holliday said her decision was in large part due to a story on Daily Beast titled, “Jennifer Holliday Will Perform at Trump’s Inauguration, Which Is Heartbreaking to Gay Fans.” She wrote that she originally viewed her performance as a "healing and unifying force for hope through music" but later came to realize how hurtful it was to so many people she cares about. "Regretfully, I did not take into consideration that my performing for the concert would actually instead be taken as a political act against my own personal beliefs and be mistaken for support of Donald Trump and Mike Pence," she wrote.

She finished the letter with a passionate apology to the LGBT community:

Please know that I HEAR YOU and I feel your pain. The LGBT Community was mostly responsible for birthing my career and I am deeply indebted to you… You have loved me faithfully and unconditionally and for so many years you provided me with work even though my star had long since faded.

You can read the entire letter on TheWrap.

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