The parent company of the Rockettes has issued a statement that the dancers don't have to participate in the inaugural gala if they don't want to. Some folks are now posting that the earlier report — that it was compulsory — was inaccurate.
Well, not actually. The earlier report said that the American Guild of Variety Artists — the union that represents performers like the Rockettes — said that if the ladies have a contract, they can be ordered to perform. In the new statement, the Madison Square Garden Company, which I guess owns or manages the Rockettes, says they won't make any Rockette participate and dance if she doesn't want to. Those two statements are not contradictory.
The Rockettes are hardly a big "get" for the inaugural gala so it's trivial whether they perform at this trivial event or not…and the fact that some of them want to opt out exceeds even the Utterly Trivial standards of this blog. But it's worth noting because we're about to get a president who is obsessed with trivial slights and punishing those responsible for them. Someone right now is probably trying to talk him out of tweeting that any Rockettes who don't show up are pathetic loser whores.