5 Artists Quit Trump’s Freedom 250 Concert as $1 Million Donor Access Draws Scrutiny
Updated
Updated · Rolling Stone · Jun 1
5 Artists Quit Trump’s Freedom 250 Concert as $1 Million Donor Access Draws Scrutiny
10 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Jun 1
Five acts — Young MC, Morris Day and the Time, Martina McBride, Bret Michaels and the Commodores — have withdrawn from Trump’s Freedom 250 concert series over the past week.
Artists including McBride and Michaels had signed on believing the July 4-linked event was nonpartisan, but the project’s political tilt became clearer as details emerged.
Freedom 250 is separate from the congressionally created, bipartisan America250 nonprofit and is instead a White House-backed public-private partnership that offered donors access to Trump for $1 million.
Trump responded on Truth Social by saying he would replace the departing performers and deliver a major speech, while some remaining bookings are already thinner than advertised — C+C Music Factory’s slot is only rapper Freedom Williams.
With headliners gone and funding under scrutiny, what does the future hold for the ambitious Freedom 250 celebration?
How will the first-ever UFC fight on the White House lawn redefine national anniversary celebrations?