Donald Trump’s been having a devil of a time lining up A-list talent for his inauguration—so much so that he tweeted, in pure Trumpian ego-fulfilling fashion, that the A-list isn’t “A” enough for him: he wants “the PEOPLE” dammit!
I guess by that he means Ted Nugent and other “PEOPLE” who shit themselves to avoid the draft.
One thing seems for sure: the All-American Rockettes will be doing their big kick thing from the stage. When news broke last week that the NYC dancers would perform, while almost every other artist who didn’t want to commit career suicide had turned Trump down, the first stories said the dancers’ union was forcing them to appear. After a day of online backlash, the company’s spokesperson said the dancers’ performance at the inauguration was strictly voluntary.
Yeah, sure.
Unfortunately, many of the dancers are still afraid they’ll be penalized for not performing at inauguration. “It will be interesting to see who doesn’t get their job back,” Mary [pseudonym] said. “If I had to lose my job over this, I would. It’s too important. And I think the rest of the performing arts community would happily stand behind me.”
Who would ever have thought that Donald Trump would force women to do something against their will? “Mary” is not the only dancer who’s worried about performing at the inauguration. Some are concerned that the Rockettes will be “branded as right-wing. An extreme right-wing.” They point out that nearly every other artist said no to Trump: “Why are we not?” Others can’t get over the obvious ick factor:
One dancer felt as though she was being “forced to perform for this monster,” Mary said, while another woman reportedly wrote in an email to the dancers: “I wouldn’t feel comfortable standing near a man like that in our costumes.”
If I were a Rockette or any other “young and beautiful piece of ass” (Trump’s words), I wouldn’t feel comfortable standing next to “a man like that” in armor. Stay home, dancers, your Radio City Music Hall audiences will only grow and cheer for you that much louder.