The Kennedy Center... Down The Tubes

Have you noticed that kind of a reverse Midas Touch, everything Trump touches turn to c**p.

Kennedy Center staff describe climate of fear as events drop from calendar

Issa Rae became the first major artist to publicly cancel an upcoming show at the center after President Trump took over its board and leadership.

The Washington Post

By Travis M. Andrews, Manuel Roig-Franzia and Michael Andor Brodeur

February 13, 2025

The fallout from President Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center’s board and purge of its leadership continued Thursday, as the center’s staff worried about the storied arts institution and shows began to disappear from its lineup.

Comedian, actress and Hollywood creator Issa Rae said on Instagram that she was pulling her sold-out show, “An Evening With Issa Rae,” from the slate of programming, becoming the first major artist to publicly cancel an upcoming show at the Kennedy Center.

“Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue,” she wrote, adding that tickets will be refunded.

[...]

In 2023, the center commissioned “Finn,” a children’s musical about a shark who finds he fits in more with smaller fish than his fellow predators. A creator of the show said it could be read as a metaphor for LGBTQ+ experience, though there is nothing in the musical explicitly about the community.

You know Trump, anything LGBTQ+ he hates!

A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the decision to cancel “Finn” was “financial and made last week,” and that the “writers were notified on Wednesday morning before the change in leadership.”

In a statement, the union Actors’ Equity Association said it was “outraged” at the cancellation. “It is disturbing to see the new leadership of this institution move so swiftly to suppress viewpoints they do not agree with,” the union wrote, adding that it intends to enforce its contracts with the center.

[...]

“A Peacock Among Pigeons,” a National Symphony Orchestra concert billed as a “celebration of love, diversity, and the vibrant spirit of the LGBTQ+ community” and scheduled to take place during World Pride 2025, has been removed from the website. The Washington Post has not been able to confirm whether it has been canceled.

Is Trump driving the Kennedy Center to runes, Forbes reports that,

Trump—who has never been to the Kennedy Center—said in the post that its existing chair, billionaire founder of the Carlyle Group David Rubenstein, did “not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” noting the center held drag shows “targeting our youth.”

"Drag!" That's a four letter words for Trump... 

Trump told reporters Monday his administration “took over the Kennedy Center” because “we didn’t like what they were showing and various other things,” adding “we have, I guess, a whole new group of people going in . . . and we’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke.” On Sunday, he told reporters “some of the shows were terrible” and “a disgrace,” though he has not specified other issues with the programming, or what shows he’d like to see put on there. Trump said he’s never been to the center and “didn’t want to go” because “there was nothing [he] wanted to see.”

Trump & Company do not like variety. Comraded we only have wholesome shows that the far right evangelical Christians approve of. So what does Kid Rock, Kanye West, and Ted Nugent going to play there? When Trump will bring it down to the level of "The Apprentice"

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Updated 2/17 @ 3AM

A list of events and shows canceled at the Kennedy Center

Actress and comedian Issa Rae was the first major artist to cancel since the Trump takeover.

The Washington Post

By Samantha Chery

Feb. 17, 2025

In response to President Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover, actors, authors and other artists who were scheduled to hold events at Washington’s preeminent arts institution have begun backing out of scheduled appearances. The cancellation of some events, scrapped around the same time but unrelated to Trump’s actions, was also scrutinized by artists.

On Feb. 7, Trump announced plans to fire multiple Kennedy Center board members. By Wednesday, all of former president Joe Biden’s appointees had been replaced. The center’s new board of trustees then voted for Trump to head the board and ousted the center’s longtime president, Deborah Rutter, in favor of Trump ally Richard Grenell.

The unprecedented actions sparked immediate blowback. Along with the cancellations, multiple prominent arts figures, including television producer Shonda Rhimes, who served as board treasurer, resigned from their positions.

Here is the list of cancelations so far according to the Post...

• Issa Rae
• Finn
• ‘A Peacock Among Pigeons’
• Louise Penny
• Amanda Rheaume
• Low Cut Connie
• Alfred Street Baptist Church’s Christmas performance

And this is just the beginning of the cancelations, and I wonder how Trump will affect private donors?