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Why Carly Simon Turned Down 'Repulsive' Trump's Mar-a-Lago Invite

Carly Simon and Donald Trump

Ahead of the 2016 election, the singer-songwriter gave permission for her classic "You're so Vain" to be used for political purposes in an anti-Trump campaign ad. 

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Ahead of the 2016 election, Carly Simon, the singer-songwriter behind hits like "Anticipation" and "The Right Thing to Do," gave the OK for her song "You're So Vain" to be used for political purposes for the first time since it was released in 1972. The result was an anti-Donald Trump ad that includes clips of political leaders calling him a "narcissist." Now, in her latest memoir, Touched by the Sun, about her friendship with Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Simon says that she turned down an invite to Mar-a-Lago, calling Trump "repulsive."

The legendary singer once met Trump at a luncheon for the late Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, where she says he was holding court with New York dignitaries, according to The Guardian.

"Trump wasn't paying any attention to me at all. Why would he?" Simon said, adding that her association with Bhutto made her more appealing as the luncheon continued.

"Benazir Bhutto summoned me and asked me to go into the bedroom with her and so I went and we sat on the bed and she held my hands and said: 'I just love your music.' We talked about different songs that were her favorites and it maybe lasted three minutes," Simon said.

"When I went out of the bedroom, obviously I had all of a sudden become important through the eyes of Donald Trump. So he was very anxious to meet me and invited me to Mar-a-Lago [his luxury estate in Florida] and was all over me like ugly on an ape."

"I thought he was kind of repulsive," Simon added about turning down Trump's offer to visit his Florida-based estate.

Simon, now 74, left her hit "You're so Vain" pretty much intact for the use in the anti-Trump ad. But she did alter the line "your scarf it was apricot" to "your face it was apricot" to describe Trump's permanent orange hue.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.