Whoopi Goldberg Says ‘I Stand Behind’ Carrie Underwood and ‘Have to Support’ Her Right to Perform at Trump’s Inauguration: ‘I Won’t Be Watching’

Whoopi Goldberg Carrie Underwood

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Whoopi Goldberg showed some support to Carrie Underwood on “The View” (via Entertainment Weekly) amid backlash against the “American Idol” winner and country music star for her decision to perform “America the Beautiful” at Donald Trump‘s inauguration on Jan. 20. The EGOT winner has been outspoken against Trump for years but said she stands behind Underwood, although Goldberg will not be watching the performance or the inauguration.

“People do what they do for whatever reason,” Goldberg said, noting that public figures have every right to navigate politics however they see fit. Such was the case when MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with Trump after he won the presidential election in November, Goldberg observed.

“I stand behind her,” Goldberg added of Underwood. “If I believe I have the right to make up my mind to go perform some place, I believe [she has] the same right. I have to support. It doesn’t mean I’m particularly interested. I won’t be watching, but that’s just me.”

“I think art is art and you have a right to perform where you want to perform,” Goldberg’s “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin said, echoing Goldberg by adding that she has no plans to watch Underwood or the inauguration and has “scheduled a spa day” instead.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, who previously worked under Trump at the White House but voted for Kamala Harris in the election, chimed in by slamming society’s knack to “cancel people’s livelihood because we don’t like their politics…If you have a problem, you register your complaint by not downloading her songs and not going to her shows. But, I also think from a business standpoint, it’s not a bad decision for Carrie Underwood.”

Griffin added that Underwood is “overnight going to become an icon of MAGA and the American right and is likely “going to make a lot of money off of” her decision to perform at the inauguration.

Underwood’s performance was announced Jan. 13 and she issued the following statement: “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”

Classical crossover singer Christopher D. Macchio is also on the schedule to perform an unnamed “musical selection” just before JD Vance is sworn in as vice president.