In 2008, Jennifer Hudson the  Dream Girls  star and Grammy Award winning 34-year-old singer lost her mother, her brother, and her nephew after her sister s estranged husband shot them in a brutal murder   a topic she rarely talks about now, except in a healing light. She s a great girl. And we re protecting them well,  Trump told PEOPLE at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night.  They are very safe. PeopleIn 2008, Hudson performed  Let s Stay Together  for Barack and Michelle Obama during Obama s inauguration ball. It s not clear if Obama and Michelle did anything to help her after her family was murdered.Two days ago, another  Dream Girls  star, Broadway sensation Jennifer Holliday, who had previously committed to performing at Trump s inauguration, backed out over bullying and threats she received from the Left.Ms. Holliday said she was asked on Wednesday if she would sing at the concert scheduled for Jan. 19, and she agreed, seeing the request as similar to those she received to sing at the White House during past Republican and Democratic presidencies.  I just thought of the history part of it, and about singing on the mall where Marian Anderson paved the way for me to sing as a black American,  she said, referring to a 1939 concert that Ms. Anderson, a popular singer, performed from the Lincoln Memorial after being denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall because she was black.Ms. Holliday said she had been startled and disheartened on Friday by the venom that greeted the news of her participation. It brought a lot of threats from people already saying I ll never work again,  she said.  If that s what America has come to, where we all hate and bully people, there s no more freedom of speech. She added,  I know everybody hates me now, but that shows we are all just hateful people now   we don t even want to work together. Ms. Holliday said she did not see herself, or her singing, as political, a sentiment echoed by Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old classical-crossover singer who will perform the national anthem at Mr. Trump s inauguration on Jan. 20. I just kind of thought that this is for my country,  Ms. Evancho said.  So if people are going to hate on me it s for the wrong reason. Ms. Holliday said her goal is to support America:  Are we saying that if there is anything that could be done for America in four or eight years or however long Trump is there, we re not supposed to participate or help anybody?  she asked.  Shouldn t we all be praying for the success of America? I would like to sing some hope and have my voice not be associated with some kind of label, but I guess that s where we are now.   NYT s 