Freedom 250 announced nine performers for its Great American State Fair on Wednesday. By Friday, six of them had walked out. The three acts that remain are Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory and Flo Rida. America’s 250th birthday celebration is currently headlined by the man who sang Ice Ice Baby.
The departures came in rapid succession once artists discovered that the event they had been told was nonpartisan was not, in fact, nonpartisan.
Martina McBride was the first to go public. “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,” she wrote on X. “Things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.” Her post accumulated more than 3 million views within hours.
— Martina McBride (@martinamcbride) May 29, 2026
The Commodores followed, posting that their “music has always been our voice” and they choose not to “publicly affiliate with any single political party.”
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The rest came quickly. Young MC, best known for his 1989 hit Bust a Move, wrote on Instagram: “I have informed my agents that I will not be performing at the Freedom 250 event. The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event.”
Bret Michaels was more expansive, writing: “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. I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.”
The MAGA response to the departures was immediate and largely directed at McBride.
Richard Grenell, who previously helped lead the Trump-Kennedy Center, wrote: “The Intolerance is coming from your side. Why can’t you people be around people that disagree with you politically?”
The Intolerance is coming from your side.
Why can’t you people be around people that disagree with you politically? https://t.co/Qv1kuQjbdL
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) May 29, 2026
Others pointed to McBride’s past performances and called her stance inconsistent. One post said she had no problem singing for Barack Obama at the White House or supporting Black Lives Matter protests, but refused to perform at America 250. The post questioned why a national celebration was seen as too political, while other political moments were not.
Martina McBride is a walking contradiction. She bails on performing at America 250 — a celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday on the National Mall — whining that it was “misleading” and not “nonpartisan.”
But singing for Barack Obama at the White House? Totally fine.
Backing…— Bobby Robertson (@bobbyrobertson) May 29, 2026
Not everyone agreed with the framing. “At this point the White House needs to have Kid Rock on retainer,” another X user replied. “Thanks for doing the right thing!”
At this point the White House needs to have Kid Rock on retainer.
Thanks for doing the right thing!
— The Green Dragon Tavern (@greendragonhq) May 29, 2026
The walkouts happened as questions continued to grow around Freedom 250 and what it actually is. The group was created by Trump to lead America’s semiquincentennial celebrations and describes itself as nonpartisan, while receiving funding from Trump-aligned tech companies Oracle and Palantir.
At the same time, Congress had already set up a bipartisan commission to oversee the country’s 250th birthday events, but that commission appears to have been bypassed entirely. Public Citizen has since called for investigations after a New York Times report found that donors who contributed more than $1 million were offered personal access to the president.
Featured image via X screengrab
