# What's the deal with Trump's Inaguration Committee's inability to secure "A" list talent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192 "2017-01-03T02:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/61 "2017-01-11T10:01:06Z")
I suspect that anyone who would be willing to associate with him is unlikely to be an A-list anything. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/62 "2017-01-11T11:49:31Z")
Wasn’t there an artist whose career basically ended after they played Reagan’s inauguration? Trump is a terrible candidate. He is neither conservative nor liberal, but falls more firmly in the camp of “asshole”. One of the least popular politicians ever to rise to power in America, you’d have to be an idiot, without choice, or truly desperate to tie yourself to that as a celebrity - see also, in order: Ted Nugent, Paul Ryan, Scott Baio. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/63 "2017-01-11T12:17:50Z")
Trump doesn’t need any A list talent. He is the “greatest celebrity in the world” and his inauguration will “surround him with soft sensuality”. So says Tom Barrack, head of the inaugural committee. > **['Greatest celebrity in the world' will attend Trump inaugural: Trump](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4107188/Trump-s-inauguration-attended-greatest-celebrity-world-Trump.html)** > > Tom Barrack, head of Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee, told reporters today that Trump doesn't need or want celebrities at his swearing in - he's 'the greatest celebrity in the world.' ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/64 "2017-01-11T12:39:20Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Trump doesn’t need any A list talent. He is the “greatest celebrity in the world” and his inauguration will “surround him with soft sensuality”. > > So says Tom Barrack, head of the inaugural committee. > > [Trump's inauguration will be attended by 'greatest celebrity in the world' - Trump | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4107188/Trump-s-inauguration-attended-greatest-celebrity-world-Trump.html) Jesus, D’Mail, hire some new copy editors. "the \*\*Morman \*\*Tabernacle Choir " “A-listers \*\*like the ones Barrack blew off \*\*turned offers from Trump’s team down. Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Elton John and **intentionally known singers others said they wouldn’t do it**.” “‘His instruction to me was the campaign is over, I am now president for all the people. I want you to build a bridge and tie them back in. \*\*I was to heal the wounds \*\*and I want to get back to work on Saturday morning.’” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/65 "2017-01-11T13:07:16Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Wasn’t there an artist whose career basically ended after they played Reagan’s inauguration?. Of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/66 "2017-01-11T13:28:47Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Of course not. Ron Jr? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/67 "2017-01-11T14:29:49Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Ron Jr? Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/68 "2017-01-11T14:38:19Z")
I bet he can get R Kelly now. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/69 "2017-01-11T14:47:15Z")
If I were an A-list talent and Trump had asked me, I would have agreed and then not shown up. It would be worth the legal troubles that would ensue. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/70 "2017-01-11T14:51:55Z")
He will cut the Gordian Knot and be his own entertainment ! Be prepared for immediately after the oath and ceremonial embrace with the now ex-president for Trump to rip off his clothes, revealing a top hat and tails ( white with gold revers ), and as the massed bands strike up ‘ **76 Trombones** ’ he prances and gambols ahead of his adoring hordes on the road to the White House. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/71 "2017-01-11T15:17:31Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I am more than a bit surprised by the difficulty them seem to be having in securing any A list talent. That is a dirty lie. I happen to know that Kirk Cameron is available. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/72 "2017-01-11T16:37:09Z")
Too bad Melanoma has bugged out of the first lady gig, she could do a Pole Dance. Duck dynasty on kazoos, ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’. Kick line of, oh, three Rockettes? The baskets of despicables would soil their shorts with ecstasy. I won’t be watching, but the thought of this douchebag ‘surrounded by soft sensuality’ (involving his harem of cracked-out looking skanks?) makes me giggle. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/73 "2017-01-11T17:23:12Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Kick line of, oh, three Rockettes? I thought he was just going to walk down the line in front of them, grabbing their crotches, and telling the ones who weren’t sufficiently moist for him, “you’re fired”. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/74 "2017-01-11T17:46:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > If I were an A-list talent and Trump had asked me, I would have agreed and then not shown up. > > It would be worth the legal troubles that would ensue. I can see the appeal. But it’s an action that’s small, weak, and classless. When someone deeply and profoundly awful makes a request, the self-possessed stand up tall and tell them to fuck off. And when someone deeply controversial makes a request, people who depend on public approval make vague statements about previous commitments. > [@Wesley Clark](#): > > I’m confused too. Keep in mind there are thousands of celebrities, probably tens of thousands, out there. Lots of musicians to pick from, and they can’t find any decent talent? 63 million people voted for the guy. A few had to be celebrities. Thousands of celebrities, sure. But thousands of A-list celebrities? Not really. And it’s not like a random sampling of 63 million people voted for him. 63 million generally misinformed vaguely racist rubes (and a few dedicated assholes) voted for him. If there were A-listers who wanted to support him publically, there’s been plenty of time for them to come out of the woodwork. Instead, we’ve seen Scott Baio, Stacey Dash, and Ted Nugent. Recognizable names to many, but hardly A-list. You may be right that _some_ A-listers who support him in private, or at least feel somewhat neutral, but they depend on personal and business relationships with lots of others who publicly hate his guts. Why stick your neck out? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/75 "2017-01-11T19:54:03Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Jesus, D’Mail, hire some new copy editors. These are not editorial errors. They’re clues. > [@](#): > > "the \*\*Morman \*\*Tabernacle Choir " Exactly. Not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. A tribute band from Provo. > [@](#): > > “A-listers \*\*like the ones Barrack blew off \*\*turned offers from Trump’s team down. Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Elton John and **intentionally known singers others said they wouldn’t do it**.” The first part is this campaign’s intent to disrespect the current president. Give them credit for recognizing they probably couldn’t get away with “Osama, the Nigerian Muslim.” And the second part is just a stealth-jab at how déclassé it is to intentionally seek out fame and fortune. Cool performers just stumble into their prominence. His Trumpness won’t have truck with anyone who grubs after celebrity. (Besides himself. Because competition.) > [@](#): > > “‘His instruction to me was the campaign is over, I am now president for all the people. I want you to build a bridge and tie them back in. \*\*I was to heal the wounds \*\*and I want to get back to work on Saturday morning.’” Ok, that’s just confusing. But I theorize that confusion is the intended effect. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/76 "2017-01-11T20:22:05Z")
Given the recent allegations about his Russian links, the Cocteau Twins could reform to sing him [Pink Orange Red](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4d6wOHJvkE). Except, you know, it’s a lovely song. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/77 "2017-01-11T21:29:54Z")
I did see someone wondering if by any chance the banjo players from Deliverance might be available. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/78 "2017-01-11T23:28:57Z")
I hear these guys are free on the 20th: [Cossack March Singing - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKWDRCH6xg0) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/79 "2017-01-12T00:08:25Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Wasn’t there an artist whose career basically ended after they played Reagan’s inauguration? Are you maybe thinking of [black actor Ben Vereen’s tribute to the famous black vaudeville performer Bert Williams](http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/revisiting-ben-vereens-misunderstood-blackface-inaugural-performance) at the 1981 Reagan inauguration? Vereen started out his act with one of Williams’ minstrel-show-type “Dixie nostalgia” songs, wearing blackface makeup. The network chose not to broadcast the last part of the act where Vereen removed the makeup while singing another song with a more angry and bitter tone: > [@](#): > > Vereen then sings Williams’s signature song, the mordant and dirgelike “Nobody” (“I ain’t never got nothin’ from nobody, no time”), while staring into a makeup mirror and wiping the black paint from his face. > > This final five minutes of Vereen’s performance is anguished yet defiant, evoking the pain and exploitative power of blackface minstrelsy and the distortions of stereotype. It was intended to implicate the predominantly white audience. And almost nobody saw it. The gala was televised on ABC, on tape delay, but the broadcast omitted this latter half of Vereen’s act. Vereen had been promised that the whole performance would be shown, and he felt betrayed by the network’s decision to edit out the latter part. And so for weeks—for years—Vereen had to answer to African-Americans who were both angry and mystified as to why the most prominent black actor on Broadway would agree to shuffle his feet and sing, even in tribute to a renowned black performer, for a party and a President-elect that outwardly seemed to care so little for them. In other words, what audiences saw was Vereen apparently playing along enthusiastically with the “happy darky” stereotype, for a President whose candidacy had been [strongly associated with racism](Reagan candidacy racism), and never saw the part of the act symbolically rejecting and denouncing the stereotype. So what hurt Vereen’s image as a performer was the incorrect perception of his inaugural performance, not the mere fact that he was performing at the inauguration of Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192/80 "2017-01-12T00:10:44Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > That is a dirty lie. I happen to know that Kirk Cameron is available. Being on ‘a list’ isn’t the same as being on the ‘a’ list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-trumps-inaguration-committees-inability-to-secure-a-list-talent/776192.md?page=5)