Nelly Refuses To Back Down After Backlash For Performing At Donald Trump's Inauguration

Nelly isn't backing down from his decision to support the newly sworn-in president, Donald Trump, at his inauguration ceremony on Monday. Amid tons of public backlash to the decision, Nelly spoke with CBS News at the event and doubled down on his choice.

“I’ve been catching haters my whole career,” he told the outlet. “I always try to think forward and I also try to trust in myself in the sense of when I truly believe that I’m doing what’s right and I truly believe I have a plan to help get things done.” From there, he brought up his 2004 collaboration with Tim McGraw, "Over and Over."

“I’ve been getting backlash since ‘04 when I decided I wanted to do a song with Tim McGraw,” he explained. “When I decided in 2004 when it was kinda unheard of. Now you look at some of the artists that’s come along. There’s Shaboozey. If you look at what ‘The Queen’ Beyoncé was able to do with Cowboy Carter. I did it in ‘04 when people had a lot of words to say about it. You would say that I was catching backlash then, but it was forward-thinking. Because I always try to stay positive and think that what I’m doing is in the best interest of uniting.” 

As for the backlash, it's gotten so prevalent on social media that even a fan page for Nelly's wife, Ashanti, decided to shut down in protest of the couple's decision. Other artists have been facing controversy as well, including Soulja Boy, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, and more. That group all performed at the Crypto Ball, over the weekend in celebration of the inauguration. Check out Nelly's latest comments on performing at Donald Trump's inauguration below.