“You're fired” was never a particularly jocular catchphrase, but it takes on a new level with the latest revelation about Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration. On Sunday, Trump's team fired longtime inauguration announcer Charles Brotman via e-mail, dismissing the 89-year-old who has announced every inauguration parade since 1957. The abrupt decision has left Brotman feeling shaken up, he told CNN on Monday.
“I looked at at my e-mail, then I got the shock of my life,” Brotman said in an interview with Carol Costello. “I felt like Muhammad Ali had hit me in the stomach.”
Brotman had been preparing for the inauguration, unaware that he was going to be replaced by local announcer Steve Ray. Though the severance e-mail from Trump's committee was full of compliments, calling Brotman “wonderful” and a “legend,” it still wasn't enough to take away the deep dismay he felt upon reading it.
“I was disappointed because I thought I would be the announcer,” he said. “Then when I read the e-mail, I thought I was going to commit suicide. It was really terrible.”
The messy rollout of a new announcer comes on the heels of an unusually painful inauguration planning process. Numerous high-profile stars like Céline Dion and Elton John have turned down performance offers, while talent bookers have claimed that Trump's team has offered them cash and ambassadorships in exchange for A-list talent. The only confirmed performers for this year's inauguration are teen opera star Jackie Evancho, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Rockettes, a group that has been particularly tormented by its participation in the inauguration; many dancers have faced harsh online backlash, and a few have decided to sit out the performance entirely.
Brotman, however, will at least get some sort of formal recognition from Trump's team for his decades-long career. In a statement to CNN, inauguration committee director of communications Boris Epshteyn said Brotman will be honored as “announcer chairman emeritus.”
“Since 1957, millions of Americans and countless entertainers have come to recognize Charlie Brotman as the voice of the inaugural parade,” Epshteyn said. “The Presidential Inaugural Committee will be proud to honor Charlie as Announcer Chairman Emeritus on January 20. We are thrilled for Steve Ray to be introducing a new generation of Americans to the grand traditions of the inaugural parade.”
Representatives for the inauguration committee have not yet responded to Vanity Fair's request for comment.
