“Anybody know a music/TV promoter?” That’s the start of a status that I’ve seen in several of my friends’ Facebook feeds in the last few days.
The idea? Hold a huge “freedom concert,” to be televised at the same time as Donald Trump’s inauguration. It would star, I quote, “Beyoncé and Jay Z, Madonna, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Gaga,” with the idea that it would anger Trump if all the celebrities who “refused to perform” at his inauguration all gathered in one place to detract attention from his big day, with the proceeds going to a variety of liberal causes.
Celebrities can’t beat Trump
This is a terrible idea, and not only because I would imagine “Freedom concert” is a copyright that Sean Hannity owns. And also for logistical reasons: It’s hard to imagine that many A-listers agreeing to perform on a weekday morning, and the celebrities who refused to perform for Trump are generally understood to have rejected appearances at Inaugural balls, which are at night on January 20.
There’s an even better reason to reject the idea: Using A-list celebrities to combat Trump is already an idea that’s been tried, very recently, and failed. It was called “Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.” Because literally every person on that list, save for Timberlake, really did perform a concert for the Clinton campaign, and none of them succeeded in preventing a Donald Trump presidency.
Rethinking the role of A-listers
This isn’t an argument that celebrities should “shut up” about politics, or should “stick to singing,” or whatever the right wing says every time a Hollywood type speaks up. Nor do I believe the appearances by Jay-Z and Beyonce are “the reason Trump won.”
But one lesson of the 2016 campaign is that celebrity endorsements aren’t a silver bullet in politics.
I was with 30,000 people who saw Bruce Springsteen perform before a Clinton rally in Philadelphia on the eve of the election. The Democratic convention was full of A-listers while the RNC made do with the likes of Scott Baio- and we know which side won.
I don’t know at this point what will end up emerging as the best strategy for combating Donald Trump’s presidency. But I’ve got a feeling it won’t involve famous singers denouncing him.
