(CNN) — Elton John will not be performing at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to the singer’s spokeswoman, denying a claim made by a vice chair of Trump’s presidential inaugural committee.
Anthony Scaramucci, whose company has donated to LGBT causes in the past, told the BBC Tuesday that the singer will be performing on the National Mall for the inauguration in January and that John’s appearance would demonstrate the Trump administration’s “commitment to gay rights.”
“This will be the first American president in US history that enters the White House with a pro-gay rights stance,” Scaramucci claimed. “Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the mall on inauguration,” Scaramucci, who is also a member of the presidential transition team executive committee, said.
It was unclear how seriously Scaramucci intended his statement to be taken, though a John spokeswoman flatly denied his claim Wednesday.
“He will NOT be performing at Trump’s Inauguration!” John’s spokeswoman Fran Curtis told CNN in an email Wednesday.
It is unclear whether John was asked to perform. A message left with Trump’s inaugural committee was not returned.
John, who headlined a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in March, criticized Trump during the 2016 election.
The “Candle In the Wind” singer, who is a prominent HIV/AIDS awareness activist, told Mic in June that a potential Trump presidency makes him “fear for the world.”
“I fear for the world, globally, with the AIDS situation … [if] Donald Trump gets to be president,” John said. “He’ll marginalize people. He’s already doing it.”
