John Legend says he is "not surprised" that A-list musicians are reportedly reluctant to play Donald Trump's inauguration early next year.
A report in US website The Wrap suggests that the President-elect's inaugural committee is struggling to find stars who are willing to take to the stage at his inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2017.
An unnamed source said: "They're calling managers, agents, everyone in town to see who they can get and it's been problematic".
The source added that the committee are even prepared to break with protocol and pay hefty appearance fees to lock down a high-profile act, saying: "They are willing to pay anything. They told me, ‘We’ll pay their fees.’ Most of these artists’ fees are in the six to seven figures."
However, this has been denied by the spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Boris Epshteyn, who said "no one with any official position at, or official relationship with, the presidential committee is engaging in the conduct described".
Grammy winning artist John Legend told the BBC that he is "not surprised at all" that musicians would be hesitant to sing at Trump's inauguration, explaining: "Creative people tend to reject bigotry and hate.
"We tend to be more liberal-minded. When we see somebody that's preaching division and hate and bigotry, it's unlikely he'll get a lot of creative people that want to be associated with him."
Swedish star Zara Larsson echoed his sentiments, saying: "I would never do it. A lot of artists out there have been very pro-Hillary and anti-Donald. So I would never do it and most other smart people wouldn't do it."
Beyonce and Aretha Franklin sang for President Barack Obama at his 2009 inauguration ceremony and artists such as Rihanna and James Taylor have performed for Obama throughout his presidency.
