Jimmy Kimmel laid into Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair after multiple headliners backed out, suggesting Donald Trump and his associates couldn’t “do anything” right.
During Thursday’s monologue for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the comedian weighed in on the controversy surrounding the event, a 16-day patriotic celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. that is being organized by the president’s nonprofit. It is slated to kick off on June 25.
The problem? Well, as Kimmel pointed out, the announced headliners are dropping one by one.
“They’re also lining up entertainment for what they’re calling the Great American State Fair,” he said. “This is a big concert in Washington on July 4th to celebrate our 250 years. And what a lineup they have. This is like Coachella for bands that hired their cousin as their tour manager.”
He continued: “The listed performers include pop duo Milli Vanilli, one of whom is dead. Pop duo C+C Music Factory, another of whom is dead. Morris Day and The Time, minus lead singer Morris Day and minus The Time, they refused to be part of the event. Young MC, minus Young MC, who also refused to be part of the event. And The Commodores, minus the original singers from The Commodores and minus the new singers from The Commodores who backed out today, too.”
As Kimmel went on, he joked that those who hoped to attend shouldn’t be worried, as Bret Michaels, Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice and “the guy from the Cracker Barrel logo tooting on the jug are in so far.”
“We’ll check back on that tomorrow to see if they’re still in. What a mess,” Kimmel added.
The comedian was particularly tickled by Milli Vanilli’s response to being booked for the festival, in which the group said, “Others using the name Milli Vanilli that appear on the advertisement should be considered a tribute band with no association vocally, musically to our sounds and songs.”
Given Milli Vanilli infamously did not provide the vocals for their chart-topping music, Kimmel cracked: “How can someone pretend to be Milli Vanilli when Milli Vanilli was pretending to be Milli Vanilli?”
After summarizing the drama so far, Kimmel made one last dig about the festival, stating, “What a concert this is going to be. Everything they do, they screw up. They cannot do anything.”
Watch Kimmel’s full monologue above.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
