Performer rejected corruption around... (5)
I believe the answer is:
actor
'performer' is the definition.
(actor is a kind of performer)
'rejected corruption around' is the wordplay.
'rejected' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'corruption' becomes 'rot' (I've seen this before).
'around' becomes 'ca' (circa).
'rot'+'ca'='rotca'
'rotca' backwards is 'ACTOR'.
(Other definitions for actor that I've seen before include "ham" , "One with role" , "Theatre player" , "I pretend" , "One in a play" .)