John Oliver mocks Freedom 250 concert, says lineup features 'people that you haven’t thought about since 2009'

Sharareh DruryMon, June 1, 2026 at 6:16 PM UTC

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John Oliver on 'Last Week Tonight'
Credit: HBOKey Points -

John Oliver poked fun at the Freedom 250 concert facing a wave of cancellations.

"Honestly, that sounds less like America’s 250th birthday and more like the playlist at Rhonda’s 50th," the Last Week Tonight host said of the event's initial lineup that featured Young MC, Bret Michaels, the Commodores, and Martina McBride.

Multiple performers have opted out of the Freedom 250 concert series just two days after its lineup was announced.

As the upcoming Freedom 250 concert series hangs in limbo due to multiple artists pulling out, John Oliver is taking shots at the fallout.

Just days after the Freedom 250 organization, which is closely affiliated with President Donald Trump, announced the concert lineup for the Great American State Fair, multiple artists set to perform opted out of the event. While the series was billed as a nonpartisan event, musicians who dropped out expressed concerns about how the concert was originally presented to them and how it has been advertised online since they were announced to perform. Artists who have dropped out so far include Young MC, Bret Michaels, the Commodores, Martina McBride, and Morris Day.

During Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver reveled in the aftermath of artists refusing to participate in Trump's event.

"It is a stacked lineup of people that you haven’t thought about since 2009," Oliver said, mocking the original lineup for the concert. "Honestly, that sounds less like America’s 250th birthday and more like the playlist at Rhonda’s 50th. The only really surprising thing about that lineup is there aren’t special appearances from the ShamWow guy and the Gushers kid whose head turned into a raspberry."

Young MC, Martina McBride, and Bret Michaels dropped out of the Freedom 250 concert.
Credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty; Jason Davis/Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty

“Now, crucially, the organization planning that event, Freedom 250, is not the same thing as the non-profit America250, led by a bipartisan board created by Congress," Oliver explained. "Instead, it’s a public-private partnership launched by the White House with some dicey elements, including the fact that for $1 million, donors to it could get access to Trump. And as its political slant became clear, acts who were part of that initial announcement quickly began to bail.”

Among the artists who've dropped out, Morris Day and the Time took to Instagram to deny "rumors" of their involvement in the event, writing, "Morris Day & the Time will not be performing at the 'Great American State Fair.'" In the caption, Day added, "It's a no for me."

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McBride wrote on social media that she was initially "presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event" but that the concert series "turned out to be misleading."

Michaels, who withdrew last Friday, shared in a lengthy statement that "what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of." The Poison frontman added that his exit from the lineup was due to "threats and safety concerns" rather than politics.

“Yeah, that is a lot of cancellations," Oliver quipped on his show, while noting Vanilla Ice and C+C Music Factory seemingly remain among the slated performers.

"Even some of the acts currently still scheduled to play may not be the exact people you’re expecting," Oliver continued. "For instance, neither of the C’s in C+C Music Factory will be performing, it’s just their rapper, Freedom Williams, who initially agreed to perform, then considered backing out, then doubled down on performing because he was so mad that people were criticizing him."

Donald Trump
Credit: Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty

As artists have declined to perform, Trump has offered a few solutions, including that he could perform instead, or organizers could cancel the concert series and replace it with a MAGA event.

As of Monday, C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli's Fab Morvan, and Flo Rida remain scheduled to perform in the concert series. In a statement to the , Vanilla Ice said he was "proud to help celebrate America's 250th Anniversary!"

The Great American State Fair is set to kick off on June 25 and run through July 10 at Washington, D.C.'s National Mall.

on Entertainment Weekly

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