Country-pop star Keith Urban surprised many over the weekend by performing a cover of Pink Pony Club, one of Chappell Roan’s most explicitly queer anthems, at a holiday party held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Urban’s choice of song raised eyebrows not only for its openly gay themes but also because the event was a celebration attended by a host of high-profile conservative figures. It was hosted by Australian recycling billionaire Anthony Pratt, who has previously donated millions to Trump — despite Trump once calling him a “red-haired weirdo from Australia.”
The party, held Saturday night, was filmed by Floridian realtor Tali Israel and posted to Instagram. In the video, Urban belts out the chorus of Pink Pony Club as the crowd sings along — seemingly oblivious to the song’s message, which centres around finding joy and acceptance in queer spaces.
The footage also showed Trump mingling with guests, with Israel noting in her caption that Pratt had “generously pledged 5 Billion Dollars toward American manufacturing projects” — and that there were “lots of French fries.”
As if that weren’t surreal enough, attendees also reportedly included One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson and mining billionaire Gina Rinehart — an unlikely audience for Chappell Roan’s queer celebration of identity and freedom.
Urban Knows Exactly What the Song Means
Despite the disconnect between the song’s themes and the crowd’s likely views, Urban is no stranger to Pink Pony Club’s message. In an interview with a Canadian music outlet earlier this year, he shared his emotional reaction to hearing it for the first time.
“Who doesn’t wanna find a safe place, wherever that is?” Urban said. “You just wanna find your people — doesn’t matter what that is, just somewhere where you finally realise you belong there. God, that speaks to me.”
Roan has been open about the fact that the track was inspired by the joy and safety she discovered in queer nightlife — particularly in a gay bar.
Given the context, Urban’s song choice felt like a pointed, if subtle, contradiction to the environment he was performing in. Many of those enthusiastically singing along were likely the same people pushing back on LGBTQ+ rights in their political lives — a reality not lost on the LGBTQ+ community.
“I like to do what’s right,” says Urban
Urban has previously been asked about his willingness to perform at events connected to Trump. Back in 2017, he gave a non-committal response:
“I support supporting our country as a citizen. I would like to probably answer that question when it comes up. But I’m a citizen, and I like to do what’s right.”
Whether his performance of a queer anthem at a Trump event was an act of quiet resistance or blissful irony, the internet has already cast its vote — with many siding with Nicole Kidman, Urban’s ex-wife, and embracing the moment as further proof she dodged a bullet.
