Grimes has been booked for dance music festival World Pride, responding with enthusiasm in a social media comment – despite public backlash to her inclusion in the line-up.
The pop artist has been in the spotlight due to her past relationship with Elon Musk – the Tesla CEO leads DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), an initiative by the current administration led by President Donald Trump, who also signed executive orders curtailing policies aimed at protecting LGBTQIA+ citizens upon returning to power.
On January 22, at Trump‘s Presidential inauguration, Musk slapped his chest with his right hand, and flung his arm up diagonally upwards, which was widely criticised as resembling a Nazi-like salute.
A news report claimed that Grimes performed a DJ set at an inauguration party days before – this was debunked by her manager in a tweet, which read: “Hi, this is untrue. Grimes did not dj this event. Can you please not share this because it’s misinformation.”
However, per the Washington Blade, Grimes was still allegedly seen at the far-right party held at Butterworth’s, which The Washington Post recently featured as a “MAGA hangout bar”.
Due to her relationship with Musk, along with her alleged ties to the far-right movement, fans have criticised her inclusion in the line-up of World Pride, an event catered to the LGBTQIA+ community – on its Instagram announcement post shared yesterday (February 19) where Grimes shared the comment “MAKE AMERICA GAY AGAIN” in support for the event.
“But why Grimes? Since when are white supremacist invited to pride events.?”, one commenter wrote. Another asked: “Will grimes be bringing elon musk out”. Others brought up her supposed DJ set at the Butterworth’s party: “Grimes. Who just DJ an alt-right inauguration party? What a lame move by the festival.”
Hope Giselle, a transgender activist based in Washington DC, criticised the festival for booking Grimes in an Instagram Live video, per the Washington Blade.
“Grimes literally has children with Elon fucking Musk-rat, the person that is making us all feel this fucking small, or at least attempting to make us feel this fucking small,” Giselle said. “Y’all are gonna platform Grimes right underneath the headliners? That does not make fucking sense.”
The festival is headlined by Jennifer Lopez – who commented on the post “LET’S GET PROUD!!!!!!” – and Troye Sivan, who is openly gay.
The executive orders by Trump included a declaration that America will only recognise “two genders”, specifically targeting the rights of transgender people.
“Queer, trans and non binary peoples have existed since the dawn of time,” Garbage wrote in response to the news. “They will continue to exist whether you choose to recognize this or not. They will exist long past the current administration and long past all of our lifetimes.
The order would block workplace requirements that transgender people use pronouns that align with their gender. It also targets America’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and ends their federal funding.
Last year, Musk’s daughter Vivian, who is transgender, criticised her father, who claimed that she was “killed” by the “woke mind virus” while denying her current gender identity. Grimes tweeted in support of her, writing: “I love and am forever endlessly proud of Vivian.”
Last week, Grimes hit out at her former partner for parading their son Lil X around the Oval Office as Trump signed an executive order in front of cameras.
“He should not be in public like this. I did not see this, thank u for alerting me. But I’m glad he was polite. Sigh”
Prior to being notified of her son’s whereabouts, Grimes had taken a moment to praise New York Times journalist Ezra Klein on her X/Twitter account for his podcast which dived into Trump’s first few weeks in office and the swell of MAGA.
“Ezra Klein is a national treasure,” began her tweet. “Brings a right-wing guy on with an opposing viewpoint and they calmly come to a rough consensus analysis of the current situation. Politics desperately needs more of this vibe right now, for everyone’s sanity.”