Joy Villa, who wore a “Make America Great Again” dress at the Grammys on Sunday, saw a spike in music sales and social media followers over the last few days.
The 25-year-old recording artist, model and actress defended her wardrobe selection on the red carpet in a post, writing, “Sometimes you just gotta be free to express yourself. Thank you to all of my supporters and fellow believers. Life is about living free and loving it. Be your beautiful selves tonight!”
In a recent interview, she verbally admitted to voting for President Donald Trump and said she felt “closeted about it.”
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When asked by Yahoo Finance whether she received backlash about the dress from guests at the Grammys, Villa claimed that some people whispered to her, “I voted for him too,” but recalled one guy saying, “I wish I could step on it.”
Shortly after the relatively unknown artist’s red carpet appearance, reports show her music sales have skyrocketed, along with an increase in social media followers. On Twitter, her followers jumped from 15K to 109K on Tuesday.
According to Google’s trending queries, “Trump dress at Grammy’s” was one of the highest searches of the night.
“There was a lot of controversy around the President and a lot of hate and I wanted to change the narrative … I wanted this dress to be a beacon of hope for love,” Villa said on FOX & Friends on Tuesday.