In a released statement, 'The Joke' singer stresses while she is proud to have been invited to the Fortune event, she 'absolutely cannot support' the former Director of U.S. Homeland Security.
- Oct 22, 2019
AceShowbiz - Country star Brandi Carlile has backed out of an appearance at Fortune's upcoming Most Powerful Women summit after learning former Director of U.S. Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, is also billed to speak.
The singer/songwriter rescinded her participation in a statement she released on Monday, October 21, insisting the decision was not one she made lightly.
"At the end of the day I'm a mother with a ridiculous birthright and a heart for displaced people," she writes. "I'm proud to have been invited to the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in DC. Dropping out of such a special appearance is rarely my style."
But she explained she felt uncomfortable being on the same bill as someone who led the family separation crisis at the Mexican border with the U.S. even though Nielsen resigned from her position in April.
"I don't think that human rights violators and merit-based abusers of displaced people should be given a platform to 'reimagine' history. Ever," she adds. "The atrocity of family separation at our Southern border needs to go down in history as one of the United States of America's most merciless acts."
"Respectfully, I absolutely cannot support Kirstjen Nielsen having a voice among the most powerful and inspiring women in America. Her access to power is righteously over."
