Five years ago, R&B singer Chrisette Michele performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration. It was a decision that has shaped her career every day since, as fans of her music have canceled the singer. An interesting term, as we’ve seen quite a few people come back from being canceled with even more questionable choices and morals in their history. Michele reposted a tweet from a fan recently questioning why people cannot seem to forgive Michele, to which she chimed in hoping to open up a conversation.
The tweet made a comparison between Chrisette Michele and her former collaborator Kanye West. West is enjoying a pretty massive summer, as his new album, Donda, is doing incredibly well in sales following a few weeks of build-up. Kanye West is no stranger to controversy, much more than Chrisette Michele has ever faced. With all the things he has done in the public eye, the most confused would probably be his support of Donald Trump before he tried running against him for president.
Kanye West made his name synonymous with Trump’s, appearing in photos with him, sporting a MAGA hat, and passionately expressing his love and support for the former leader of the free world. “They tried to scare me into not wearing this [MAGA] hat, my own friends. This hat, it gives me power in a certain way.”
Despite everything, Kanye West has remained “uncanceled.” West is still so popular that he racked up more than $10 million in merch and ticket sales during his three Donda listening parties. The album itself, which dropped Sunday, is reportedly at over 180 million streams, making it the biggest first week of any album in 2021.
So how, if Kanye can continue to find success, have we not found the space to forgive Chrisette Michele? The singer was immediately remorseful following her participation in the inauguration, stating that she intended to create a moment for healing or to create a bridge was lost in translation.
Michele took to instagram to ask fans this very same thing. She brought up Travis Scott who also performed for Donald Trump. “Being compared to Kanye & Travis for the last 5 years. Watching them soar into the highest realms of stardom. Waiting on Gods hand to show me exactly what my story will look like.”
She posed the question if it had anything to do with her being a woman.
One fan pointed out that this might have everything to do with it, stating that women do not get as much grace as men in these situations.
Should Chrisette Michele be “uncancelled”?
