‘The View’ Defends Broadway Star After MAGA Hat Debacle

Nicole Scherzinger, Broadway star, Masked Singer judge and former Pussycat Dolls member, found a group of defenders on The View Monday, after the singer posted an Instagram comment that many social media users interpreted to be pro-Trump.

Hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines each offered their support to Scherzinger following the backlash to a comment she left on disgraced comedian turned conspiracy theorist Russell Brand’s Instagram page, to a photo of him wearing a “Make Jesus First Again” baseball cap, seemingly modeled after MAGA paraphernalia. (“Where can I get that hat?” Scherzinger had asked.)

“She realized that the comment could be misinterpreted as politically related,” Goldberg said, reading Scherzinger’s Instagram statement in response to the backlash, “and apologized to anyone who understandably reached that conclusion.”

“Many presumptions are being drawn, which do not reflect who I am, what I stand for, or who I voted for,” Scherzinger wrote in that statement. “Many of the marginalized communities feeling hurt and concerned by the results of the presidential election are people I care about most. I stand with them, as I always have, throughout my life and career.”

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Fans had descended on Scherzinger’s Instagram posts for a collective millinery meltdown, where one wrote, “You‘ll dine out on your queer fanbase but then vote for Trump and ultimately project 2025. You‘re not an ally.”

But Scherzinger said in her statement that her comment shouldn‘t have been interpreted as supportive of Trump.

Further supporting Scherzinger’s statement, Page Six ran a story showing her sporting a Kamala Harris T-shirt a few days before the presidential election.

“She was brought up Catholic. Her grandfather was a priest,” Goldberg explained of Scherzinger. “In 2019, she said she attended church at least twice a week and was raised very conservative. However, she supported Obama in 2008 and has been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community.”

The backlash to the comment was “ridiculous and stupid,” Navarro said, and Scherzinger “shouldn’t have apologized.” However, “don’t go on social media if you can’t take the heat because people are crazy,” she warned. “Emotions are so raw,” after the election, she added, noting that “people are losing their mind.”

Another thing people are losing their minds over? Scherzinger’s current run in Broadway’s Sunset Boulevard, which critics agree is a “standout” performance—so “brilliant,” as Goldberg put it Monday, that she is being widely tipped as in the running for a Tony award.

But, as Haines pointed out, the controversy over the comment had incited fans to call for her removal from the awards’ consideration. Goldberg told those infuriated fans, “She liked a hat—relax.”

“Her Tony has nothing to do with what she’s doing on social media,” Haines added, “This has gotten out of control.” By the end of the segment, the hosts were making plans to see Scherzinger’s show, though they acknowledged it may be difficult to get tickets to the “very sold-out“ show.