Vanilla Ice Under Fire For Maskless NYE Mar-a-Lago Concert

Vanilla Ice has come under heavy criticism for performing maskless at an indoor concert at the Mar-a-Lago Club on New Year’s Eve in Palm Beach, Fla. Footage of the event surfaced after Donald Trump Jr. shared a Facebook video, resulting in an onslaught of backlash amid the surging spread of COVID-19 in cities across the nation. 

The video showed the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper on stage performing to a large crowd. 

“Ok this is amazing,” Trump Jr. captioned the post. “Vanilla Ice is playing the Mar-a-Lago New Years Eve party. As a child of the 90s you can’t fathom how awesome that is. Beyond that I got the birthday shoutout so that’s pretty amazing.”

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Guests reportedly purchased a “four-figure” entry ticket, which granted them access to mix and mingle with Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle; Eric Trump and wife Lara Trump; Tiffany Trump; and Rudy Giuliani, according to The New York Times. 

The Florida Department of Health, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection reports that as on Sunday (Jan. 3) more than 1.3 million residents have tested positive for COVID-19. More than 83,000 Palm Beach County residents have tested positive for the virus, the report says. 

Florida House Representative Omari Hardy responded to the irresponsible celebration on Twitter. 

“Mar-a-Lago is a club. A club is a business. Businesses must abide by Palm Beach County’s mask order, or be fined or even shut down,” he tweeted saying that he planned to report the concert to county officials.

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Dr. Angela Rasmussen, an American virologist and Associate Research Scientist at the Center of Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University School of Public Health, also responded to the event, calling it the “superspreading Vanilla Ice concert.”

In July 2020, the rapper canceled a concert in Austin, Texas, after coming under heavy criticism for plans to perform at the Fourth of July event, despite the summer surge of COVID-19 cases.  

For the latest on the coronavirus, check out BET’s blog on the virus, and contact your local health department or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.