"You are an opportunist"— Amanda Seales brands Nelly "an idiot" for performing at Trump's inaugural ball

Several artists have performed at Donald Trump's inaugural ceremony, however, the inclusion of Nelly as a performer shocked many. The primary reason for the shock, as per HotNewHipHop, is that he had previously criticized Trump.

American actress Amanda Seales shared her opinion about the rapper's performance during a recent live session. She called Nelly an "idiot" and further explained that his behavior could be dangerous. She stated:

"Nelly is an idiot. I'm not gon' be polite no more about people being idiots. You are an opportunist, you are an idiot."

The actress mentioned that she wasn't concerned about netizens making memes out of her statements. Amanda added:

"Just go ahead and make a meme of me like that."

Amanda then suggested that Nelly did not know when to stop interfering in topics he knows nothing about, saying:

"I know when I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm not gonna argue with Jemele Hill about football."

Amanda Seales did not limit her criticism to the Hot in Herre artist's actions but also addressed several other hip-hop stars who performed at Trump's inaugural ceremony. In 2017, the rapper mentioned that he did not like Trump as the President of the US. According to reports by The Independent, he said:

"You know the thing about Donald Trump is that I liked Donald Trump, I did, I just don’t like Donald Trump as my president."

Thus, his current decision to perform at Trump's event has come as a surprise to many.

---

Nelly defends himself for performing at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony

As mentioned earlier, the rapper has faced significant backlash after deciding to perform at Donald Trump's inaugural event. While many criticized him, Nelly defended his decision while talking to CBS News. On Monday, January 20, he addressed the situation, stating:

"I’ve been catching haters my whole career. 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."

According to the rapper, he believed in working with people with different ideologies.

As reported by AllHipHop, he recalled the moment in 2004 when he performed with Tim McGraw. The rapper explained that he received bashing back then as well when he wanted to make music with McGraw. The collaboration was quite unconventional since Tim was a country singer while Nelly was a hip-hop artist.

The duo, however, released Over and Over in 2004. Despite facing massive criticism, the song became quite popular and secured a place on the US Billboard Hot 100.

In the current situation, it wasn't just the Dilemma rapper who faced backlash, other hip-hop artists like Soulja Boy, Snoop Dogg, and Rick Ross also received criticism within the hiphop community.