Or is it just a coincidence that Trump is planning tax cuts?
- Stars who had said they would quit America if he won have abandoned their promises before President-elect Trump is even inaugurated
- Those who made hasty U-turns include Miley Cyrus, Whoopi Goldberg, Amy Schumer, Bryan Cranston and Chelsea Handler
- Others have gone quiet, including Chloe Sevigny and Ne-Yo
- Lena Dunham has still to address her pledge despite a 1,700-word jeremiad on how watching Clinton lose brought her out in hives
- Quite why so many celebrity would-be emigrants have declined to go is unclear, although financial circumstances may have provided a motivation
- Trump has said he will chop the top income tax rate to 33 per cent, so there is no financial benefit to fleeing to Canada where it is the same
It is the first broken promise of the incoming Trump administration – and he didn’t even make it.
Celebrities who had said they would quit America if he won have abandoned their promises before President-elect Donald Trump is even inaugurated.
Some dismissed what they pledged as a ‘joke’ and others simply went to ground when asked by DailyMail.com when they were packing up and heading to Canada or other countries.
The wave of celebrity U-turns was led by Madonna who abandoned a promise to perform sex acts on men who voted for Clinton before the polls even opened.
It is not known if anyone has complained about their disappointment to the multimillionaire liberal singer, 58, over her volte face.
President-elect Donald Trump paid Barack Obama a visit on Thursday at the White House. Celebrities who had said they would quit America if he won have abandoned their promises before he is even inaugurated
Others ditching their plans include Whoopi Goldberg, 60, who said on Thursday morning that ‘I’m not leaving the country I was born and raised in,’ and Amy Schumer, 35, who used social media to hit back at people telling her to pack her bags and declared her pledge to go was a ‘joke’.
Actress and singer Miley Cyrus, 23, announced plans to leave the country in March but issued a tearful video the morning after Trump’s win saying she ‘accepted’ the 70-year-old as her president.
More, however, have simply gone quiet, including Chloe Sevigny and Ne-Yo.
Quite why so many celebrity would-be emigrants have seemingly decided not to up sticks is unclear, although financial circumstances may have provided a motivation.
In Canada, the destination of choice for many of those apparently desperate to leave, the top rate of income tax is 33 per cent – slightly less than the 39.6 per cent paid in federal tax by top earners in the US.
Trump has said he will chop the top rate to 33 per cent – meaning there is no financial benefit to fleeing to Canada, although, of course, none of the celebrities had suggested they were moving for tax reasons.
And celebrities would lose money if they escape to Britain, another favorite destination for Trump refugees. The nation has a top rate of 45 per cent – while Spain and Italy, both mentioned by A-listers contemplating a move, make high earners pay top rates of 45 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.
South Africa, another destination mentioned by stars on the move, has a top rate of 41 percent – and a president, in Jacob Zuma, who is mired in a succession of corruption scandals.
Although it is unclear how many votes Trump acquired in anticipation of mass departures, trolling would-be celebrity emigrants has become a popular pastime in recent days.
But not every limousine liberal celebrity promised to leave however.
One star who insisted he would stay was screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who said he would remain in the US – but failed to mention his double conviction for drug possession.
His pair of felony convictions mean he would need special permission from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just to cross the border.
And Lady Gaga, who wept in her Rolls Royce after staging a one woman protest outside Trump Tower in the early hours of Wednesday morning, is another who has never said she would quit the US.
Lady Gaga mourns the election result from within her Rolls Royce after staging a protest outside Trump Tower in New York
But others, among them Dunham, could still make the move – and are yet to confirm or deny their travel plans.
Dunham was not at her $4.8m home in the most expensive part of Brooklyn nor at her $2.8m West Hollywood house when DailyMail.com visited – and her spokesman said she was not available for comment.
So will Dunham and co ever actually leave? Here is DailyMail.com’s guide to who is staying… and who really could be making the move north.
