Jennifer Holliday Pulls Out of Inauguration Concert, Apologizes to LGBT Community

Jennifer Holliday has announced she will no longer perform at the welcome concert for Donald Trump‘s Presidential Inauguration festivities after she realized how she hurt her LGBT fans.

The 56-year-old Tony-winning actress originated the role of Effie in Dreamgirls on Broadway and she just wrapped a run in The Color Purple.

A big part of Jennifer‘s fan base lies in the LGBT community and she decided to pull out of the event after backlash from them.

Jennifer says the concert was presented to her as the “Welcome Concert for the People” and she focused on that when she made her decision to perform.

“My only choice must now be to stand with the LGBT Community and to state unequivocally that I WILL NOT PERFORM FOR THE WELCOME CONCERT OR FOR ANY OF THE INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES!” Jennifer wrote in an open letter obtained by TheWrap.

Click inside to read the full letter from Jennifer Holliday…

Jennifer Holliday’s Open Letter to the LGBT Community

TO MY BELOVED LGBT COMMUNITY:

Please allow me this opportunity to speak to you directly and to explain why I originally made my decision to perform at the inauguration which was what I had thought would be my simply keeping in my tradition of being a “bi-partisan songbird” having sung for Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush.

I was asked to sing a song for what was presented to me as the “Welcome Concert For The People”�” in my mind I was reflecting on the past times of being asked to sing for presidents and I only focused on the phrase “For The People”… I thought, For America!

I was honestly just thinking that I wanted my voice to be a healing and unifying force for hope through music to help our deeply polarized country… 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.

In light of the information pointed out to me via the Daily Beast article on yesterday, my only choice must now be to stand with the LGBT Community and to state unequivocally that I WILL NOT PERFORM FOR THE WELCOME CONCERT OR FOR ANY OF THE INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES!

I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgement, for being uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans.

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.

Thank you for communicating with me, I had no idea that I still meant so much to all of you.

Thank you for your posted comments both the good supportive ones as well as the ugly hurtful ones.

With LOVE & Appreciation,

JENNIFER HOLIDAY
“The Original DreamGirl”