Jewel has apologised to fans for performing at the RFK Jr. Inauguration event.
The singer took to social media to explain her decision to perform at an Inauguration Day ball honouring Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is an outspoken vaccine sceptic.
The 50-year-old performed Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the event.
In a video on Instagram, she told how she wants to help solve the country's mental health crisis, and that she doesn't want to wait to do this until there are people in government with whom she "agree(s) on all the politics."
"As many of you know, I am a mental health advocate," she shared.
"If there's anything that I've learned in the past 20 years, it's that mental health affects everybody's lives across party lines. I reached out to the last administration, spoke with the surgeon general about the mental health crisis that's facing our nation. I don't know if you guys know the stats, but it is bleak."
She admitted she was "so sorry" to any fans she caused pain, especially her LGBTQIA+ fans, whom she called "treasures."
"You've made my life a better place. And I will not stop fighting," she confessed. "None of us can afford to stop fighting, and I really believe that the only way we can change is in relationship. I want to be a ray of light in this world. I try hard to be a ray of light in your lives."
She continued, "If I wait to try until I agree 100% with the people that might be willing to help me, I'd never get off the bench. I don't think that's how activism works, waiting until everything's perfect enough to participate. It's actually... because things are so imperfect that we have to find ways to engage and to participate. And we have to act now. We cannot wait another four years."
The Grammy winner added that she believes there are people in the White House "that are willing to help on this issue," even though "I do not agree on all the politics."
She concluded her video by admitting she knows people are struggling.
"If I can help put resources or mental health tools into the hands of the most vulnerable who need it, I'm going to try and I'm going to fight," she shared. "Half of our country feels hope right now, and I honour that. And half of our country feels disenfranchised and scared and vulnerable, and that is unacceptable."
