The singer talks about Donald Trump support

On January 21, 2025By Littum

Amid backlash, Nelly is defending her decision to perform at an inaugural ball following President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in on Monday.

The rapper, 50, spoke with Willie D in a YouTube stream On Saturday, after it was revealed, he will perform at the Liberty Ball, one of three official inauguration balls, on Inauguration Day. He said he is “not political” and that his performance is not about endorsing Trump.

“I respect the office,” said Nelly. “This is not politics. To me, politics is over. He won. He’s the president. He’s the commander-in-chief of what I like to say is the best country in the world.”

The “Hot In Herre” artist continued, “It’s an honor to perform for the President of the United States, whoever is in office.”

“If President Biden would have asked me to perform, I would have performed. If Vice President Kamala Harris would have won and asked me to perform, I would have performed.”

The three-time Grammy winner, who described himself as an independent, brushed off the criticism he has received, saying: “I’ve had backlash my whole career. It doesn’t bother me.”

When Nelly was asked directly if he’s a Trump supporter during the stream, he repeated, “I support the president of the United States, whoever is in office. I respect the office.”

In the YouTube comments section, many fans were not happy with Nelly’s explanation.

“Nelly made his decision as he had the right to do, so do we and my decision is no longer to support Nelly in any aspect, musical or otherwise,” read one comment.

Another said: “Man when he said he should always respect the office, Trump doesn’t even respect the office.”

Nelly was the latest artist to announce an inaugural performance and subsequently face criticism.

Carrie Underwood previously announced that she would sing “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration. In a statement, she said: “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we all must come together in a spirit of unity and in the future.”

After the “American Idol” star’s announcement sparked backlash, Whoopi Goldberg defended her on “The View.”

“I’m behind her,” she said. “If I think I have the right to decide to perform somewhere, I think they have the same right. So I have to support (her). It doesn’t mean that I’m particularly interested in watch. I won’t watch, but it’s me.”

The Village People announced they would attend inauguration activities, but made it clear in a Facebook post that they were not endorsing Trump in the election.

“We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, but we believe music should be performed without regard to politics.” said the group. “Our song ‘YMCA’ is a global anthem that will hopefully help bring the country together after a tumultuous and divisive campaign in which our favorite candidate lost.”

Snoop Dogg also faced backlash after performing at the inaugural Crypto Ball, an event in Washington, DC, ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

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Late last year, Jelly Roll made similar comments to Nelly after he received backlash over a video of him laughing and smiling while meeting Trump at a UFC event. On the “Dumb Blonde” podcast, the “Save Me” singer said he’s “not political” but respects the presidency.

“There’s not a chance in hell I’m not going to meet the president-elect,” Jelly Roll said. “If I would have gotten a call to meet with Joe Biden at any point, I would have stopped what I was doing to meet him. That’s the active president! I wouldn’t have cared what people thought, even what I think, of his politics.”

Contributor: Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY