When Rob Base died on May 22 following a private battle with lung cancer, Young MC was left reeling. Base was a close friend who had attended his wedding in Phoenix just a few years earlier. So when Young MC’s agent told him he could take Base’s June 26 slot at a Washington, D.C. concert called “Freedom 250: The Great American State Fair,” he accepted.
What Young MC says he didn’t know at the time was that the event had ties to the Trump administration.
On Wednesday (May 27), organizers posted an Instagram flyer touting the lineup, and the backlash came quickly. The bill, heavy on ’90s nostalgia, included Vanilla Ice, Young MC, Milli Vanilli and C&C Music Factory, alongside the Commodores, Flo Rida, Bret Michaels, Martina McBride and Morris Day and the Time. Within hours, Freedom Williams of C&C Music Factory and Morris Day and the Time had both distanced themselves from the event. Morris Day issued a statement on social media denying that his group was participating.
“Contrary to rumors, Morris Day & the Time will not be performing at the ‘Great American State Fair,'” Day posted on Instagram. The caption read, ”It’s a No for Me.”
Young MC backed out soon after. Online commenters had flooded his page, with some calling him a “MAGA douchebag” and shaming him for accepting the gig. Young MC says the event was misrepresented from the start.
