John Legend: America ‘has to be better’ than Trump

The singer-songwriter made the call at a glamorous ceremony for the Producer Guild Awards in Beverley Hills, as it emerged visa holders and refugees had been refused admission within hours of the decree being signed.

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“We are the voice, the face of America. Our America is big, it is free and it is open to dreamers of all races, all countries, all religions,” Legend said.

“Our vision of America is directly antithetical to that of President Trump and I want specifically tonight to reject his vision and affirm that America has to be better than that.”

Legend was introducing a clip of the musical La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, which is among the favourites to be honoured at the Oscars.

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“This is a film about love, about dreams and about this lovely city we call home, Los Angeles, California,” Legend, who has 10 Grammys and an Oscar for the song “Glory” from civil rights movie Selma, said.

“Los Angeles is the home of so many immigrants, so many creative people, so many dreamers, and those of us who work in this business have the privilege of shaping how the world perceives this country we love.

“There’s a lot of money and power in this room and I hope you will use it for something good.”

Mr Trump’s decree could stop the makers of another film tipped for Oscar success from travelling to the US for the ceremony.

Iranian film The Salesman, from director Asghar Farhadi, is nominated for best foreign language film.

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An Academy spokeswoman said: “As supporters of film-makers – and the human rights of all people – around the globe, we find it extremely troubling that Asghar Farhadi, the director of the Oscar-winning film from Iran A Separation, along with the cast and crew of this year’s Oscar-nominated film The Salesman, could be barred from entering the country because of their religion or country of origin.”

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One of the film’s stars, Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, has said she will not attend in protest.

“Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist,” she wrote.

Legend said he considered boycotting the awards to show his solidarity for protesters who turned up at airports to demonstrate against the order, but instead made a donation to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The US President has come under fire from many in Hollywood, both before and since his election, to which he has responded with scathing remarks on his Twitter account. news.sky.com