How much do Hollywood celebs fear being associated with the Republican Party?
Justin Bieber rejected a $5 million offer from some GOP mega-donors to play a “non-political” gig in Cleveland, according to TMZ. Sources connected to Bieber’s booking agency, CAA, told reporters that Bieber would receive the huge sum, bankrolled by Republican money, in return for a 45-minute performance somewhere near the Quicken Loans arena during the Republican National Convention.
The event, the unnamed organizers said, wouldn’t be connected to the RNC directly, and they assured the team that Bieber wouldn’t have to endorse Donald Trump or the Republican Party platform. But Bieber would be required to keep his politics to himself.
While Bieber reportedly mulled performing—it would have been, according to TMZ, his single biggest payday—his manager, Scooter Braun, wasn’t so thrilled. Braun, who is a big fan of Hillary Clinton, is himself a Democratic party mega-donor and member of Hillary Clinton’s original donor committee. Braun hosted one of Clinton’s first Hollywood fundraisers: a 200-person, $2,700-per-plate dinner in his home in August of 2015. The guest list reportedly featured the likes of Steven Spielberg, Pixar’s Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers creator Haim Saban.
After getting advice from LeBron James—who also, it seems, turned down the opportunity to appear at a “Cleveland welcome event” for the RNC—and from his backup band (largely African-American), Bieber turned down the offer.
This isn’t the first time the GOP has offered big bucks for a big name to perform at their convention. In 2012, Republicans offered Lady Gaga $1 million to perform for their convention in Tampa, according to a lawsuit American Action Network filed against an RNC vendor who failed to secure Mother Monster.
The documents also list attempts to woo country music legend Dolly Parton and Latin megastar Pitbull for performances, but were denied. The vendor ended up booking Lynyrd Skynyrd and Journey instead, and Gaga played this year’s Democratic National Convention.
