On the very day the “Freedom 250” concert series was announced, rapper Young MC became the second artist to publicly back out of the government-sponsored festival taking place on the National Lawn in Washington, D.C.. His exit following Morris Day‘s statement earlier Wednesday that he and the Time would have nothing to do with the newly announced patriotic series, an outgrowth of an Independence Day initiative tarted by the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, a third artist that had been announced Wednesday morning, C+C Music Factory frontman Freedom Williams, posted a fired-up, profanity-laced eight-minute message in which he initially said he’d planned to back out of the show after learning about Trump involvement. Then Williams backtracked and said C+C Music Factory might well go ahead with the gig after all, to show he was impervious to the backlash and could not be told what to do by angry commenters.
Young MC’s message to fans on social media Wednesday night was short and to the point: “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT,” he wrote. “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is non-partisan, Spin magazine describes it as ‘Trump-backed.’ I hope to perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.”
Earlier in the day Wednesday, Day had posted an even shorter message, just saying he and the Time would not be participating. It was not clear whether he was suggesting that he had never been officially booked or was just pulling out, although he did describe the advertised appearance as a mere “rumor.”
“Contrary to rumors,” Day announced on social media, “Morris Day & the Time will not be performing at the ‘Great American State Fair.’” In the comments section, Day threw in an additional denial, along with an emoji of a smiling face with sunglasses, alongside the message: “It’s a No for Me.”
Most of the acts who were announced for the Freedom 250 series managed to make it through the day without addressing their participation in the controversial concert series, including Martina McBride, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli (which now consists of Fab Morvan, as a solo artist), Flo Rida and the Commodores.
But Freedom Williams had no interest in holding his tongue. In his Instagram video, which he said he was filming while taking a dump, the C+C Music Factory rights-holder and sole remaining original member did some raging against Trump… but saved most of his real rage for those he said were fostering a backlash against him. It was unclear by the end of the clip whether C+C was definitely keeping its gig or he would still be thinking about it.
Williams said he had been getting upset texts all day and was still catching up. “[N-words] talking about, ‘Yo, Free, you doing the Trump Freedom show?’… I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ … Celebrity [n-words] is calling me up, [N-words] I’ve known for years who know I don’t fuck with Trump. … My agent called me about three months ago and said, ‘Yo, you wanna do a show the 25th? In Washington?’” he said today he went back to his agent and said, “‘You didn’t say nothing about Trump. You didn’t mention Trump.’ … So I told my agent, ‘Yeah, no, I ain’t gonna be able to do that.’”
But then there was a twist in Williams’ thinking, in his wildly entertaining eight-minute rant. “I don’t give a fuck about Trump,” the singer said. “I know the type of fucking anarchy he creates. But the day I let you motherfuckers tell me what to do is the day I die. I want to make that shit motherfucking crystal clear… Listen, I will vote for fucking Genghis Khan, Hitler and motherfucking Ivan the Terrible before I let you [N-words] tell me what to motherfucking do… Y’all can suck my dick with that ‘Don’t do a show for Trump’ shit. I don’t give a fuck about Trump, but I also don’t give a fuck about you either! … Shit, you keep pushing me, I’ll do the motherfucking show in North Korea pissing on a fucking American flag, smoking a Cuban cigar, drinking Venezuelan wine, playing golf with motherfucking Kim Jong-il with an Iranian bitch on my lap while Trump’s standing there with his dick in his hand. That’s how much of a fuck I give what you [n-words] think! You can’t cancel me, pussy, because you don’t exist.”
Williams’ last word on the subject — for now: “I might do the motherfucking show.” He ended the video by giving the camera the finger, giving viewers one more reason to go hmmm.
In some ways, seeing artists pull out of the Freedom 250 series — or at least think about it, in Williams’ case — recalls what happened this spring with the multi-artist Rock This Country tour. Although it did not ostensibly have a political connection, beyond general patriotism, several artists pulled out of the road show after their fans complained that the Kid Rock-fronted tour appeared for most intents and purposes to be built around MAGA boosterism. After it was announced, Ludacris, Shinedown, Carter Faith and Morgan Wade all dropped out — some not offering a reason, but others indicating that they did not want to be seen as embracing a political side.
The Freedom 250 events, which have already begun and will last past the 4th of July, are officially billed as nonpartisan. But one of the events held so far, a religious gathering called Rededicate 250 that took place on the Mall May 17, was “a full day of prayer, music, and testimony” that drew some criticism for spotlighting primarily politicians, administration members and ministers who identify with the MAGA movement, from Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson to evangelist Franklin Graham, with a video appearance by the president.
Freedom 250 CEO Keith Krach has touted the initiative’s nonpartisan nature in discussing the events around America’s birthday. But he left no doubt that Trump was the founder of the organization.
“President Donald J. Trump pledged that our nation’s 250th birthday would be celebrated in a way worthy of our history, our values, and our future,” Krach wrote on his website. “To help realize that vision at national scale, he launched Freedom 250 — the nonpartisan organization created to lead this historic effort. I am grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to execute his vision for Freedom 250. At its core, Freedom 250 is a national movement — bringing states, businesses, organizations, and citizens together to honor our history, cherish our God-given freedoms, and help build a golden age of opportunity for the next 250 years.”
It’s unlikely all the artists announced for Freedom 250 would bail. Martina McBride has stayed nonpolitical over the years, and there were some disappointed comments from fans surprised that, in their eyes, she was performing at a Trump-initiated event. But as a country artist with a largely conservative audience, she might face much more blowback for leaving a Trump-affiliated festival than sticking with it. Vanilla Ice, meanwhile, has not been shy about being associated with the president; he performed at Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago and appeared not overly concerned with some negative feedback he got for that.
