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Singer Jennifer Holliday Backs Out of Inauguration After Intense Backlash

'I was receiving death threats from black people'

Singer Jennifer Holliday / AP
January 17, 2017

Singer Jennifer Holliday told ABC's "The View" on Tuesday that she backed out of performing at President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration because she "was receiving death threats from black people."

The broadway star stopped by "The View" and discussed her recent decision to cancel her performance set for Thursday on the eve of the inauguration.

Holliday was going to sing at the "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration," but she canceled two days later. The performer said she got a call on Wednesday asking her to perform and claimed her social media went crazy with negative comments by Friday morning, when she backed out.

"I live a pretty reclusive life and then one morning you wake up and everyone hates you. I was like, what could I have possibly done to have these things thrown at me," Holliday said.

"I'm an artist and I love America," she said. "It just didn't dawn on me. I performed for four other presidents. I didn't think anything of it."

Holliday informed the Trump team in an email that she would be unable to perform due to the harassment.

"I was receiving deatht threats at this point," Holliday said. "I was receiving death threats from black people, the N-word from black people. They were saying they were going to kill me."

Holliday was shocked by the comments, thinking white people were "messing" with her.

"Are these white people just messing with me? I'm going, 'Oh my God, these are black people calling me this. They were saying I should kill myself," Holliday said.