Life has never been the same for Chrisette Michele after she chose to perform at President Donald Trump’s inaugural ball back in 2017.
But now the singer tells the Washington Post in a recent interview that she is trying her hardest to make a comeback…to varying results.
“While I felt like people took so much away from me in those two years, I’m more grateful for finally having time to look at the last 12” years, since she released her first album, Michele told the Post. “And I think that is the bright side. … I want people to know that it’s okay to expect more from me.”
Michele has been open about some of the struggles she has dealt with since the performance, including being dropped by her label, struggling with depression, and suffering a miscarriage.
“I went from someone being revered and loved to facing putting out an album in the worst climate of my musical career,” she said in a series of posts on Instagram in October 2017.
“If social media wanted to pull me down, I guess they succeeded as it pertains to Capitol & Caroline records,” she wrote. “I go into the studio and literally poured out my heart and soul and the label decides to walk away from me?”
Michele faced severe backlash after choosing to perform at one of Trump’s inaugural balls in January 2017 despite many black artists declining the offer. She reasoned that she was “willing to be a bridge” following the tumultuous 2016 presidential campaign season.
Now, performance venues that she once easily filled — like the Keswick Theater outside Philadelphia– remain half-empty when she performs the Post reports. But she remains encouraged.
“When you go to a theater that’s half full, you don’t say, ‘Well, it’s half full,’” she said. “You sing to the people that are there.”
