On Wednesday, a list of nine performers was announced for the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C. By Thursday, several had announced they would no longer be participating in the festivities, including the singer scheduled to perform the first night, country singer Martina McBride. The fair was part of the America 250 celebration and is scheduled for June 25 to July 10 at the National Mall in the nation’s capital.
McBride announced she was no longer performing at the event in a social media post on Thursday night, claiming she was misled about things.
“I would like to talk to you and clear the air,” McBride said in her social media message. “I will not be participating at the Great American State Fair on June 25th. I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. In my mind I thought this was a great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can. I saw it as just a bigger version of so many state fairs I have performed at over the years, celebrating community and what makes each state special.”
The country singer explained that her understanding of the details of the event “changed” on Wednesday and that she felt she was misled on things when she agreed to the performance.
“Sounds fun, right? Wholesome even. Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening,” McBride said.
However, she did not elaborate on the information she learned that caused her to change her mind about performing. She was not the only scheduled performer to cancel. C+C Music Factory, Milli Vanilli, Morris Day and the Time, The Commodores, and Young MC, popular musical performers from the 1980s and early 1990s, also announced they would not be performing at the event. Several performers cited the association of Freedom 250, the organization responsible for the Great American State Fair and other festivities for the nation’s semiquincentennial, to President Donald Trump as the reason for canceling their performances.
Young MC also announced his departure from the program in a social media post, claiming he was never told about “political involvement in the event.” Like McBride, he, too, did not elaborate on his reasoning, and failed to specify what he meant by “political involvement.”
“I have informed my agents that I will not be performing at the freedom 250 event,” read Young MC’s Facebook post. “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is non-partisan, Spin Magazine describes it as Trump-backed. I hope to perform in d.c. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.”
Freedom 250 was tasked with leading the planning and organization of the festivities this year. Keith Krauch, the Freedom 250 CEO appointed by Trump, touted the president’s role in developing the organization in a previous statement. He applauded Trump’s leadership in establishing Freedom 250.
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“President Donald J. Trump pledged that our nation’s 250th birthday would be celebrated in a way worthy of our history, our values, and our future,” said Krach. “To help realize that vision at national scale, he launched Freedom 250 — the nonpartisan organization created to lead this historic effort. I am grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to execute his vision for Freedom 250. At its core, Freedom 250 is a national movement — bringing states, businesses, organizations, and citizens together to honor our history, cherish our God-given freedoms, and help build a golden age of opportunity for the next 250 years.”
As of Friday morning, the only scheduled performer who confirmed his participation was Vanilla Ice, a hip-hop artist whose popularity peaked in the early 1990s with his hit song “Ice Ice Baby.” No update was provided regarding the other cancellations, nor have any replacement acts been announced.