'Freedom 250' dealt crippling blow as headliner latest to quit Trump-linked festival

President Donald Trump's planned celebration of the nation's 250th birthday was dealt a crippling blow as the headliner of a planned concert became the latest to pull out.Country star Martina McBride scrapped plans to lead the Great American State Fair, claiming she agreed to perform without knowing the MAGA links to the massive event in Washington, D.C.The concert is fast unravelling as nearly half of its scheduled acts have now backed out less than a month before the event, organized by Freedom 250 and scheduled to start June 25 on the National Mall, starts."I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event," McBride wrote on X, "but that turned out to be misleading." The 59-year-old singer's abandonment came a day after she was announced as headliner. She said she had pressed organizers with questions before agreeing to perform, believing it would "bring people together in the way that only music can." Once the announcement dropped, she said, "things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening."Also on Thursday, soul group The Commodores announced their withdrawal. "Our music has always been our voice," the band said in a statement, "and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party."The exodus started earlier as multiple stars claimed they'd had no idea of the political affiliations of the event.Rapper Young MC, who pulled out Wednesday, told Vibe Magazine, "I was told one thing and then it was a bait-and-switch. When an event is presented to an artist as nonpolitical and nonpartisan, and then turns around and becomes hyper-partisan like it's a rally, that's when I have a problem."Morris Day and The Time also withdrew, leaving Flo Rida, Bret Michaels, C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, and Milli Vanilli still on the bill. One half of the original Milli Vanilli duo, Rob Pilatus, died in 1998, and a separate act currently touring under the Milli Vanilli name said it has no involvement with the Freedom 250 show.