While multiple sources have reported Andrea Bocelli won't perform at President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony, it's unclear whether he backed out or was never asked in the first place.
According to unnamed sources at New York Post's Page Six, Bocelli was asked by the Trump administration to sing, but fans on the left began talking about boycotting the star opera singer and he folded under the pressure.
A few days after it was reported Bocelli would perform at Trump's inauguration, a source told the news website “Bocelli said there was no way he’d take the gig ... he was getting too much heat and he said no,” Page Six reported.
However, that is only one side of the story.
Inauguration Committee Chairman Tom Barrack told The Wrap on Monday that the Trumps and Bocellis are close friends, and that Bocelli was never asked to perform at the inauguration, even though he kind of offered to do so if needed.
“Bocelli and his wife have been friends of Trump from the very beginning ... the Bocellis came to him and” offered to perform, but Trump affirmed their friendship, thanked Bocelli for the offer, and turned it down, The Wrap said.
“Thanks very much for the offer [but no thank you]. You’re my friend. You are always welcome at the White House,” Trump reportedly said.
No matter which story is true, both sides confirm Bocelli will not perform at the inauguration.
Young opera singer Jackie Evancho has agreed to perform, however, even though she has faced backlash for the decision. Evancho’s mother mistakenly told TMZ that Bocelli would also perform, but later retracted the statement, The Huffington Post reported.
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