• Bret Michaels — Poison frontman and former Celebrity Apprentice winner — announced he is withdrawing from the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair concert series on the National Mall, citing “threats and safety concerns” and saying the event has “evolved into something much more divisive” than what he agreed to
• Michaels becomes the fifth act to exit since the lineup was announced on May 27 — joining Martina McBride, Morris Day and The Time, and Young MC — leaving just a handful of the original nine announced performers still on the bill
• In his statement, Michaels said: “Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of” — while also noting his shows have “never been about politics”
• The Freedom 250 Great American State Fair is still scheduled to run June 25 through July 10 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., organized as part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations under President Trump

The Freedom 250 Great American State Fair is losing its lineup faster than it can replace it. Bret Michaels — the Poison frontman who also won Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice — announced Friday that he is pulling out of the Trump-backed concert series on the National Mall, citing safety threats and a festival that had become something other than what he originally agreed to. He is the fifth act to exit since the lineup was publicly announced just 48 hours earlier on May 27. As Variety pointedly observed, Freedom 250 is now a festival with very few acts left to lose, per Variety.

Michaels posted a statement to his website explaining his decision. “When this opportunity was presented to me,” he wrote, it was framed as a nonpartisan celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. That framing, he said, did not hold. “Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of.” He was also specific about the physical dimension of his exit: threats and safety concerns were raised, and those concerns factored into his decision to step away. “My shows have never been about politics,” he added, per Deadline.

Michaels’ departure carries a particular resonance given his history with Trump. He appeared on Celebrity Apprentice and won — making him, of the artists who have now exited the series, the one with the most direct personal connection to the president. That he is still choosing to withdraw, and citing safety concerns as part of his reasoning, adds a dimension to the story that goes beyond the standard political opt-out, per Billboard.

The Growing Exodus

The cascade of departures began almost immediately after the Freedom 250 lineup dropped. Morris Day and The Time were among the first to announce they would not perform, followed by Young MC. Martina McBride exited Thursday, writing on Instagram that she had been presented with “a nonpartisan event” but that “what we were told is not, in fact, what is happening.” McBride’s statement used nearly identical language to Michaels’ — both described being misled about the event’s nature before signing on. By Friday morning, five of the nine originally announced acts had now publicly withdrawn, leaving the festival’s music programming in significant disarray with less than four weeks until the scheduled June 25 opening, per Forbes.

Freedom 250 was established by President Trump to organize the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, and the Interior Department declared it the official branding for those events. The organization has maintained publicly that it is nonpartisan — a characterization that multiple artists say does not match what they encountered when they examined the event’s structure and political affiliations more closely. The pattern across the departures is consistent: artists say they accepted based on a nonpartisan pitch, then withdrew when the fuller picture emerged.

What’s Left of the Lineup

With five of nine acts now out, the Great American State Fair faces a significant rebuilding challenge before its 16-day run on the National Mall. The festival is still scheduled to operate from June 25 through July 10 — the stretch spanning the lead-up to and follow-through on July 4th — with programming across the area between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. What remains of the original music lineup, and whether organizers can attract replacement bookings, remains to be seen. Each new departure has arrived accompanied by statements that echo one another almost verbatim: nonpartisan is how it was sold, divisive is how it landed. For artists weighing whether to join or stay, those statements are accumulating into a pattern that is hard to ignore, per Yahoo.

The post Bret Michaels Exits Freedom 250 Over ‘Threats and Safety Concerns’ — Now 5 of 9 Acts Have Pulled Out appeared first on Cream.

• Martina McBride announced Thursday she is withdrawing from the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair — a 16-day concert series on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., running June 25 through July 10 — saying she was misled about the event’s nature
• “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,” McBride wrote on Instagram. “What we were told is not, in fact, what is happening”
• McBride is the fourth performer to exit since the lineup was announced May 27; Morris Day and The Time and Young MC also dropped out in the days immediately following the announcement
• Freedom 250 was launched by President Donald Trump and was declared the official branding of all 250th anniversary celebrations by the Interior Department — though it has been described publicly as nonpartisan

Less than 48 hours after Freedom 250 announced the lineup for its Great American State Fair concert series, Martina McBride became the fourth artist to pull out. The country singer posted to Instagram Thursday saying she had accepted a performance slot under the impression the event was nonpartisan — and that turned out not to be the case.

“I would like to talk to you and clear the air,” McBride wrote. “I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25th. I was presented with the opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. What we were told is not, in fact, what is happening.” The statement came after she had already faced criticism online simply for being on the bill, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Freedom 250 was launched by President Donald Trump to organize the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The Interior Department declared it the official branding for those events. The organization has described itself as nonpartisan, a framing that multiple artists say does not match what they experienced once they looked more closely at the event’s structure and affiliations, per Variety.

A Growing Exodus

McBride is the fourth departure since the lineup dropped May 27. Morris Day and The Time announced they would not perform, followed by Young MC, before McBride made it official Thursday evening. The exits began almost immediately after the announcement, suggesting that several artists hadn’t fully understood what they had signed up for before the public reveal, per Billboard. The Great American State Fair is still scheduled to run June 25 through July 10 on the National Mall.

The post Martina McBride Is the Fourth Artist to Drop Out of Trump-Backed Freedom 250 Concerts: ‘Turned Out to Be Misleading’ appeared first on Cream.

• Morris Day & The Time were announced as headliners for a June 27 show at the Great American State Fair — part of the Freedom 250 celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday on the National Mall
• Day, 68, immediately went to Instagram to deny it: “Contrary To Rumor, Morris Day & The Time Will Not Be Performing At The ‘Great American State Fair'”
• His caption: “It’s A No For Me” — with the sunglasses emoji
• Fans had already started pushing back on his advertised participation before Day posted his denial
• The festival lineup also includes Milli Vanilli and C+C Music Factory; the 16-day fair has been described as controversial given its political ties

Morris Day and The Time did not agree to play Freedom 250. They would like you to know that.

Earlier this week, the lineup was announced for the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., tied to the Freedom 250 celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Day and The Time were listed as headliners for a June 27 show.

Day, 68, responded on Instagram almost immediately. The post featured text on a blue and purple background: “Contrary To Rumor, Morris Day & The Time Will Not Be Performing At The ‘Great American State Fair.'” His caption: “It’s A No For Me,” followed by the sunglasses smile emoji.

He didn’t elaborate further, but the vehemence of the denial — and its speed — made the message clear enough. This was not a scheduling conflict. This was a choice.

Fans had already been expressing discomfort about his listed participation before Day posted. The festival’s political associations have made it a flashpoint for artists who’d rather not be adjacent to the current administration’s celebration programming, and Day’s public pullout — framed as correcting a “rumor” even while organizers had advertised him — put the dispute squarely in the open.

The remaining Great American State Fair lineup, per Stereogum, includes Milli Vanilli and C+C Music Factory, among others. The event runs through July 4.

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