Jennifer Holliday sat down with the ladies at The View yesterday to discuss the backlash she received after it was announced she would be performing at Trump’s inauguration last this week.
“I woke up, and there was, like, this whole thing of terrible tweets and things on my Instagram, and I was like, ‘Oh, Lord, what did I do?'” she recalled.
Holliday said she was called the “N-word” and other names and even received death threats.
Related: Donald Trump books the most antigay of antigay clergy for his doomsday inauguration
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“I live a pretty reclusive life,” she continued. “You’re not on the radio, and then one morning you wake up, and everyone hates you.”
The very next day, she pulled out of the event.
When asked by Joy Behar about her “lapse in judgment” when accepting the invite in the first place, Holliday replied, “I didn’t realize that people weren’t really over the election. I guess things started back up again. You start remembering things and the fires start burning…the people have not finished with this. They want to get it all out….I missed all of that.”
Related: Marie Osmond volunteers to sing at Trump’s inauguration despite nobody asking her to
Speaking about the LGBTQ community specifically, Holliday added, “The gay community since Dreamgirls for 35 years has been faithfully there for me. The article in The Daily Beast they threw my own words back to me – and I’m not a liar or a hypocrite. The gay community…through The Daily Beast was able to say ‘it’s not just we want to be married there are other things going on that you’re not aware of.'”
Watch the full interview below…
ChrisK
What a dumbass narcissist. Bye bitch.
Xzamilloh
Hate that Trump is president all you want, but the way people went after her is plain damn UNACCEPTABLE. This is the kind of behavior that no one should be condoning or attempting to throw shade.
It’s over. We on the left put our worst candidate against their not-worst-than-Ted-Cruz candidate and lost. Maybe hope that by the time 2020 rolls around we aren’t all under Russia’s thumb lol. Come oe Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren 2020 ticket!!
Masc Pride
@ChrisK: Exactly.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: …except Trump has popularized disrespect, tantrums and revenge. People are just following the example the new leader has set.
readycarlos
Poor Miss Holliday hasn’t worked in years. Then she’s invited to sing at a Presidential Inauguration (a huge honor even if the Prez is a twit). Then her loyal gays turn on her for her decision (a ridiculous uniformed decision). I know she claims to be “living a reclusive life” but does she live under a rock? Give me a break, girl! Just admit you had your eyes on the prize and wanted to fill that spot that Aretha left from the last inauguration. Just do a tour of gay pride festivals all of the world and you will have work until the day you kick the bucket. Don’t sell your soul, Miss Thing!
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: So what? Do you sling mud with the pigs or are you better than that? Jennifer Holliday was just going to sing at the moron’s inauguration. It wasn’t a blessing of his presidency nor did it warrant death threats and racial remarks. Nothing acceptable about that.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: I haven’t personally slung any mud at her, though I do agree with most folks who aren’t buying her “I didn’t know” act. Participating in honoring a xenophobic, Islamophobic, misogynist is always going to be controversial. Trump, Holliday and many others have to own that just like others have to accept that Trump is going to be our prez in a matter of days.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: No, I wasn’t directing that mud-slinging comment towards you. And I do agree with you that she was being purposely obtuse. I just took issue with the r@cist comments and death threats from those of us on the left. Granted, some of those may have been bonafide trolls, but I just didn’t like seeing the unnecessary vitriol being hurled at her.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: Also find your reply to be a bit hypocritical as you are usually the first one to chime in mocking people’s spiritual beliefs in any article about religion. I assume your insults are rooted in frustration of the condemnation different faiths apply to homosexuality, but let’s not act like you’re above slinging mud with the pigs.
okiloki
There’s no excuse for the hate that was slung her and Marie Osborn’s way over rumors they might participate in the inauguration. Trump is the worst but there are horrible people on both sides and unfortunately they have access to the internet.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: Oh, I’ll mock your beliefs all day… beliefs aren’t above scrutiny, or ridicule, and frankly neither is Jennifer Holliday. I took issue with the r@cist comments and the death threats. Find one comment where I wished death on someone or made racial remarks, and then you might have a point on me being a hypocrite.
Captain Obvious
Bye, Jennifer. You can try to lie and excuse your way out of it all you like. You knew what you were doing and you wanted that money.
Shuck and jive. You’re over.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: “I assume your insults are rooted in frustration of the condemnation different faiths apply to homosexuality.”
That is a part of it, I will not lie. The big issue I have with most major religions is the hindrance to education and logic they have had on us as humans. The fact that these are religions that have fueled some of the most creative minds, only to have to put caveats or limitations on that knowledge when it conflicts with the gobbledygook in these doctrines.
So, getting back to my point, Jennifer Holliday can get read to filth all day, but calling her r@cist names and saying she should be killed, all while virtue signaling for some kind of moral good is the real hypocrisy and uncalled for.
olfwob
You know… You know… you know.
jackdog111
Wow.Just how far up your own ass do you have to be to completely miss what’s been going on in this country for the last two months? Nobody has “gotten over” anything.
He BGB
I thought she would be a huge success after hearing her songs from Dreamgirls but she insisted on singing her own songs her own material and it was always so mediocre. She has the voice and the talent, she just needs a great songwriting/producing team. Probably too late now. As Wendy Williams said, I thought she would sing some of her “disco” songs but she sang a Duke Ellington song. She should have been singing Ellington 30 years ago. Barbra told Jennifer when she came backstage after DREAMGIRLS not to lose the weight that it would ruin her career. Hmmm.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: And totally understand your feelings there, but the crux of all your arguments here seems to be about being the bigger person, which you have not done when it comes to things you’re passionately against. Many of your anti-theist rants can be viewed as uncalled for and definitely hypocritical given what you’re your preaching here.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not mocking my beliefs. However, you’ve left some Islamophobic comments, and you know it. Just like you feel justified in trashing theists, some liberals feel just as justified in trashing a xenophobic, Islamophobic, misogynist, as well as anyone who supports him. It seems we’re all gonna trash each other for the next four years, which is totally the tone the incoming prez has set for the country. There is no “unacceptable” anything anymore.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: Well, let them. That’s an ad hominem tu quoque… they can say I’m a hypocrite for not practicing what I preach, but that doesn’t make me wrong, any more than it would a smoker to preach about the harm of cigarettes.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: I’m not trying to argue here, so you can take it down a not. I was not talking about “your” beliefs in particular, or do I need to add “Not directed to at you, personally” behind everything I say? When I condemn a theist to death or mock them personally, then we can talk about me being a hypocrite, but singing a song at an a-hole’s inauguration vs. centuries of repressive ideology are two different things, so nice try with the false equivalence. And I’ll talk about Islam and any other religion until the cows come home… no religion is immune to scrutiny. I can talk about how disgusting cigarettes are and how much they harm without denigrating all cigarette smokers.
Neonegro
@Masc Pride: Oh yeah, so people did not bully on the net before Trump.
Neonegro
I have not had so much fun in years watching this left wing meltdown.
They are ready to bully, insult and kill their own.
My hope is that Pence pushes Trump farther to the right and really watch the democrats implode.
Divided we win, divided we rule.
Xzamilloh
@Neonegro: Don’t put that on us… Pence is a right wing nut job that would destroy this nation even worse than Trump.
Bob LaBlah
Jennifer, honey, when you have EFFED up, just admit you EFFED up and leave it be. The important thing is you backed out of the commitment. The sad thing is you HAD to have noticed how desperate the man had become to get people to perform at this farce called the inauguration and and the repercussion from blacks, whites and Hollywood itself had you gone thru with this.
No, I don’t blame you for realizing he wasn’t worth your first class accommodations paid for via those who think you deserve it.
John
LGBTQ community bullied and intimidated her. For a group of people that cry and scream they are “bullies” and “discriminated” against they took lessons well and have done it to JH and Trump. If I was her the next time “the community” calls swooning wanting a free performance so they can raise a buck, I hope she politely says, My fee is $$$.
John
@Xzamilloh: So true the vile, mean bullying that the LgBTQ community flung towards her is unacceptable. She has given you, from her heart how many free appearances/concerts to raise money for your lobbyists then to treat her this way is awful.
Greg
@Xzamilloh: You’re right. So what if she sings at Chump’s inauguration? I’m not watching it with or without her. She wasn’t being obtuse and she didn’t seem like a dumbass narcissist either. Even if she is aware of what’s going on, she isn’t letting all the negativity with Chump affect her life. Like she said, she has performed for previous presidents from Reagan on down. When people bully other people with death threats and racialist comments, they’re acting just like president-elect Chump. He’s a sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigot. Is that what we want to become? It seems he’s ushering in an era of low-class behavior. We don’t have to all get along, but we shouldn’t be intimidating other people to do what we want. There’s nothing we can do about Chump being sworn in, except not tune in. Make this the lowest rated inauguration in the history of the U.S. He will haaaaate that.
cdinsf
@jackdog111: TOTALLY!
Rick
As much as I love Miss Holliday and admire her talent, PLEEEASE don’t lay that line of bullshit on us about not knowing this was that big of a deal. I don’t buy it for a moment.
Brian
Since when have gays been loyal to Jennifer Holliday? Gays are not loyal at all. They just want to milk every situation for value and then move on to the next target.
Gay men are like spoilt children. If they don’t get their own way, they throw a tantrum.
Jennifer should have said to the gays “since when did you put me at the top of the pop charts – you never did, so fu@k off”.
BigWill
@Brian: “… “since when did you put me at the top of the pop charts – you never did”
Except that’s not true. Gays made her “No Frills Love” a huge success for her; it was a crazy popular gay club anthem in the ’80s. And as she acknowledges herself on “The View” (if you’d bothered to read the story above), it was the gay audience that made her a star in Dream Girls.
But then you’ve never been one for facts or truth, so no surprise, really.
Brian
@BigWill: Lol – oh please, my seams are splitting.
A gay club anthem is just a blip on the music charts. It will probably rank at no. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The pink dollar’s value is over-rated. It won’t buy Jennifer much.
Gays haven’t been influential since disco, and that was nearly 40 years ago.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: Well you did start off with “Oh, I’ll mock your beliefs all day…” If you somehow meant that in a general sense, you worded it wrong. Don’t blame the reader.
I’m not arguing with you. The point was you’re not above “slinging mud with the pigs” when you get feelings, so your preaching about how others should take the high road here is pure hypocrisy. That’s all.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: Well, I’m glad you keep track of what I say better than I do. Call me a hypocrite left and right, it doesn’t make anything I said wrong. So if you’re done with the tu quoque fallacy, do you have anything else to say?
Masc Pride
@Neonegro: You said it, not me. However, at least we didn’t have a president leading the country with that extremely immature example.
Xzamilloh
@Xzamilloh: You also had no problem taking personal shots at my looks (“Idi Amin” ring a bell?)… or was that comment and much of your other assholish comments Trump’s fault? Not trying to argue, though…
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: Sure. Keeping track of what you say is actually a great way to avoid further hypocrisy. Also, you’re using tu quoque all wrong. I never said you were wrong for you feelings. I said that what you were claiming was hypocritical given your past rantings against people you strongly oppose. You’re clearly confusing tu quoque and ad hominem. Arguing tu quoque doesn’t magically bar people from pointing out hypocrisy lol. Nice try though.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: LOL @ you holding on to that for several years now. Really hit a nerve, huh? I’m not the one who was preaching, “So what? Do you sling mud with the pigs or are you better than that?” I definitely sling mud back when the mud has been slung, and I own it.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: No, but you are the one acting like Trump ushered in this new wave of assholishness that you yourself have been engaging for quite some time. And it hasn’t been “several years” as much as you’d like to forget how femphobic and bigoted your own comments were… so you can stop acting like your own history is above reproach.
https://www.queerty.com/michael-sam-calls-it-quits-again-cites-mental-health-reasons-20150817
And by the way, genius, the tu quoque fallacy is an extension of the ad hominem attack… ad hominem tu quoque. All you’ve done is say I’m a hypocrite for not practicing what I preach, but it doesn’t say anything about WHAT I said. So no, boo boo, that’s the correct use of the tu quoque fallacy. And furthermore, like I SAID, I have never condemned someone to death or made personal attacks against someone’s family, life, or their looks.
Xzamilloh
@Masc Pride: Trolls like “hitting a nerve” but like you said, ” Keeping track of what you say is actually a great way to avoid further hypocrisy.”
And since all you can do is go after my “hypocrisy”, and then say I’M holding on to the past when you JUST mentioned:
“I said that what you were claiming was hypocritical given your past rantings against people you strongly oppose.”
So which one of us is holding on to shit? Or is that we both just have good memories, but one of us has a poor concept of time as he thinks 2015 was “several years now.”
You’re sitting here saying that I am a hypocrite while saying I am not wrong for my feelings… that is the cutting definition of an ad hominem tu quoque… Thank you.
Masc Pride
@Xzamilloh: Well now look who’s taking it up a notch! And as far as your little tu quoque obsession, what you’re doing is actually a perfect example. Putting my character in question doesn’t have anything to do with what I said, which remains true. Another glaring flaw in your logic: I’m not the POTUS. There’s a huge difference between the way an average Joe handles things and the way a president is expected to handle things. I don’t have the burden of being an example for the country. All of us have said mean things before…and yes, we’re still criticizing DT’s behavior. So I hope it didn’t take you too long to search for that link that totally fails to prove your point…
Masc Pride
Also, I can say you’re entitled to your feelings while also pointing out you’ve done the total opposite of what you’re asking of others. You seem to be under the assumption that repeatedly crying tu quoque means no one can point out contradictory statements, and now you’re upset because of it doesn’t work like that.
Xzamilloh
No, dude, you seem to be under the impression that point out a supposed hypocrisy renders what I said wrong… or what is your point, other than a personal attack against ME for saying it? Hence — say it with me — an ad hominem tu quoque because all you’re saying is “Well you said this and that such and such time ago, so you can’t talk.” That’s all you have to say and have been saying. Nothing to do with Trump or Jennifer Holliday… just me and what I’ve said. You’re not helping my narcissistic view of myself lol
We’re done here.
Masc Pride
You ARE using the fallacy wrong. You seem to believe that claiming tu quoque automatically prohibits people from pointing contradictory statements. Your argument that I’ve said mean things before, so I have no right to criticize Trump IS actually an example of this fallacy you’ve recently discovered. But even that is an epic fail because I was never criticizing DT’s behavior as DT, I was very clearly criticizing DT’s behavior as the next POTUS all along.
I also didn’t say anything specific about your actions until you got all preachy with the be the bigger person BS. I’ve seen you do the exact opposite where demographics you dislike are concerned.
Now we’re done here.
KaiserVonScheiss
The way she was treated was ridiculous, but it wasn’t a surprise. That’s what the mainstream left has become, a cesspool of vitriolic hate-mongering.
jorgecruz
We are smarter than this. The people that were probably hating on her so much were the white supremacists that Trump courted so much throughout his campaign. The gays wont come to twitter to call you names, we will talk about you behind your back and stop paying to see you when you play the pride festivals. She pulled this “I didn’t know” act before when her anti gay religious views surfaced in the past. She has a very selective memory. And she still owes me a refund for the ticket I bought for the life story of Mahalia Jackson musical she was going to lead and then it got cancelled.