Recalling Chrisette Michele’s Inauguration Controversy As Carrie Underwood Plans To Sing For Trump
Inauguration Day is right around the corner, marking a historic occasion for Donald Trump as he enters his second nonconsecutive term as president of the United States. Although many across America aren’t too thrilled to see him reclaim the White House, one person who’s quite eager for the ceremony to commence is country sensation Carrie Underwood, particularly due to the fact that she’s been tasked with performing the patriotic anthem “America the Beautiful.”
Many have been expressing their opinions on whether or not it was a smart choice, and surprisingly enough all haven’t been negative towards the 2005 American Idol winner. When the topic recently made it to The View for example, Whoopi Goldberg appeared to be taking it easy on Underwood, even stating, “If I believe I have the right to make up my mind to go perform someplace, I believe they have the same right — I have to support.”
Full clip below:
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We can definitely understand where Whoopi is coming from, but one name comes to mind in the midst of all of this: Chrisette Michele. The GRAMMY-winning R&B singer had a strong start to her career in the late 2000s until she made a fateful decision to perform at Trump’s first inauguration back in 2017. Maybe it was more of an upset back then, but Chrisette was met with widespread scrutiny that virtually put an end to a career that was already struggling to stay afloat. In a 2021 interview with YouTube series The TERRELL Show, the “Blame It on Me” singer admitted candidly that it was “the wrong thing to do,” but dug a little bit deeper into the issue by adding, “My question has always been, ‘What was Travis Greene’s intention?’ I just want to know, because his album became number one.”
She makes a valid point: 2017 saw Greene top the U.S. Gospel Albums chart with his third album, Crossover: Live From Music City, in addition to receiving a GRAMMY nomination, Billboard Music Award win and a whopping seven Stellar Awards all for his chart-topping single, “Made A Way.” Meanwhile, Chrisette Michele was dropped from Universal Motown and hasn’t released an album since 2018 with her independent LP, Out of Control, nor has she received a single nomination since 2014.
Does Carrie Underwood deserve the same treatment? Did Chrisette Michele deserve such a scathing backlash to begin with? Both questions are worth exploring, which we saw a lot of people doing on social media over the past few days as Inauguration Day approaches this coming Monday (January 20). What do you think — to sing or not to sing?
Keep scrolling to see what a hanful of people are saying on social media on whether or not Carrie Underwood deserves to be treated like Chrisette Michele for choosing to perform at Trump’s inauguration:
1. and y’all better give her the SAME treatment y’all gave chrisette michele.
via @blancoBLK
2. I hope Carrie Underwood gets the same treatment as Chrisette Michele
via @LovelyOTPs
3. Lol Chrisette Michele is not a household name compared to Carrie Underwood. She ain’t going nowhere I hate to say it
via @4everkandi
4. Black people cancelled Chrisette Michele because they/we are the consumers of her music. White people don’t cancel each other & black people aren’t checking for Carrie Underwood or her music.
via @Alaerwoins1
5. Chrisette Michele was vilified and her career greatly impacted. However, I don’t expect for a rich, white woman that to be the case this time. This is America.
via @HearJoJo
6. I know Chrisette Michele has had her phone on DND since the election results.
via @accordngtoerica
7. I just feel like , where was Whoopi when Chrisette Michele was getting dragged for her performance.
via @YungAngelaDavis
8. Be fr her audience and fans are different from Chrisette Michele. Why would her fans cancel her when they also voted for him?
via @Undrstndeasinmt
9. Of course not but the difference is they’re two different demographics Chrisette has a huge black demographic that are Democrats, I’m sure the black Republicans don’t listen to Chrisette Michele. Black people turned on her so I really can’t compare
via @PilatesPapii
10. They bout to give her the Chrisette Michele special smh
via @Ella__Cool23