Nelly Responded To Backlash For Performing At Donald Trump's Inauguration, And We Need To Talk About It

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Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author's personal views.

We must discuss Nelly's response to the backlash of performing at a Donald Trump inauguration event.

If you've been more consumed with the US TikTok ban, the internet discovered rappers Nelly and Snoop Dogg joined the list of celebrities performing at Trump's inauguration events, shocking many people for good reason.

Sure, he changed his tune in 2021 when Trump pardoned Michael Harris, the co-founder of Snoop's first label, Death Row, telling the Sunday Times, "I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump." Still, people didn't expect him to be performing for the controversial president-elect.

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Nelly might need the money and the visibility, but Snoop doesn’t. Either way, I’ll never see either of them the same.

— Kenny BooYah! 🖖🏾 (@KwikWarren) January 18, 2025

Twitter: @KwikWarren

I’m beyond disgusted at Snoop and Nelly. I expect that clown tap dancing shit from Rick Ross and Soulja boy. But snoop and Nelly?! Saying fuck you to the black community by publicly supporting a man that makes it clear he don’t like us nor care about us is insane. NIP WOULD NEVER pic.twitter.com/6umKMtYXNt

— Khaleelah 💋 (@khaleelahsworld) January 18, 2025

Twitter: @khaleelahsworld

At first, I thought maybe Snoop and Nelly would just say they're doing it for the money and keep it pushing, but when Nelly went on a complete defense of his involvement and rattled off a hodgepodge of excuses, I knew a discussion was in order.

In response to the backlash, Nelly went on Willie D Live to justify why he should be absolved of any criticism or guilt at Trump's inauguration, and his reasons were puzzling, to say the least.

"We tend to sometimes make a quick, I would say, response to something that on the surface may seem it's effed up because we don't agree on something else," he said. "I'm not political. I'm not out here trying to tell anyone who they should vote for. This is not a campaign trail."

He continued, "I respect the office. This isn't politics. The politics, for me it's over. He won. He's the president. He's the commander-in-chief of what I would like to say is the best country in the world."

Nelly then explained that he was born on a military base and comes from a long line of soldiers, likening himself to armed forces sworn to protect the United States, saying, "If these people can give their life for the office, Nelly can perform."

Sure, he clarified why he's doing it — performing on a stage for Trump's inauguration is equal to going to war. However, his challenge toward criticisms against the president-elect and the Republican party was even more troubling.

When Willie D asked Nelly if he was a Trump supporter, he said, "I support the office of the president of the United States regardless of who's in office. I respect the office." This response was only minutes after he openly criticized President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who, in fact, currently held "the office."

In his defense against accusations that Trump is allegedly racist, Nelly made a surprising distinction. "Are we talking about the president, or are we talking about the candidate?" he asked. "Are you talking about candidate Trump or President Trump? That's two different people to me."

"I'm not defending anything that President Trump, candidate Trump, realtor Trump did...no. You got the right to be pissed if it affected you; you got the right to be angry if it affected you," he continued. "But as of today, he's the President of the United States. And I'm performing for the office that I was taught to respect out of people that gave their lives for this country that was in the military."

Nelly also made it a point to criticize President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Democratic party for acts he implied could be labeled as "racist" and that there were double standards when holding their party accountable versus Republicans — the same, old tired narrative of who signed the 1994 Crime Bill.

I will say this with my whole chest: BEING A BLACK PERSON IN AMERICA IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH CRIME. Using talking points like "Kamala was a prosecutor" or "somebody signed a crime bill" is not a reason for me to feel automatically threatened as a Black individual. I won't ignore that I've been pulled over at least 20 times but never received a ticket. I've had police guns pointed at me, been accused of stealing my own car twice, and had to show proof multiple times I lived in my Orange County home. Yes, our American systems are flawed. But, I will not assume I'm automatically the enemy of law and order because racist ideologies want to assign that role to people who look like me.

I won't make a declarative statement about any candidate or president's intentions. But I can't ignore that people are pretty upset by Nelly's involvement, and I hope their criticism is provided with the same benefit of the doubt and defense that Nelly and the other rappers performing gave everyone hosting these inauguration events.

I'll step down from my pulpit, but I'm so interested to see how Nelly's defense against the backlash and his performance will age in the next four years.

What do you think of Nelly's response? Let's discuss it in the comments.

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