Chrisette Michele took a hard social media beating after it was announced that she would be one of the performers at President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Fans were outraged and some even said they would no longer support her music. She was accused of selling her soul for money when rumors began to circulate that she was paid $750,000 to perform (which she refuted in a recent Billboard interview). In response to the backlash, she penned an open letter, and released her spoken word piece, "No Political Genius."

While Chrisette had already defended herself, she did an interview with "The Breakfast Club" to further explain her decision. In the interview, she made it clear that she did not perform for money. She also stated that she did not get paid a quarter million to perform.

"I needed them to see us," Michele said as she defended her performance. "I needed them to see what we have to say, what we look like, how we talk. With the entire campaign experience I think many of us were wondering, 'Who is he talking to?' You would hear something and you would say, 'Why does he think it's OK to talk to 'us' like that?' So I needed him to see what 'us' looks like because I was as confused as everybody else."

Director Spike Lee was among fans who publicly spoke against Chrisette's performance. He took to social media and said he would no longer use her music in his upcoming project because of her decision to perform.

"The reason why something that comes from his mouth would be disappointing more than hurtful is because he's the one whose supposed to teach me how to create this art and how to get it out. He's the person who created Crooklyn and is telling people he's not going to pay me for a song he never called me about. I would much rather have had a conversation than a tweet."

Chrisette went on to talk about her efforts moving forward to bring the country together. She also confirmed that her new spoken word album, No Political Genius, is set to release February 1.

Watch the full interview above.

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