To paraphrase something my colleague Susie Moore stated in an earlier piece about the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals providing much-needed guidance to lower courts on a miniscule group of the barrage of cases against President Trump and his administration, we continue to follow the saga of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Readers likely remember the brouhaha by progressives near the beginning of Trump’s new term when he announced he was kicking off some of the board members and appointing himself the new chair of the famed arts venue.
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Although a few days later, the president named former U.S. ambassador to Germany and U.S. Envoy for Special Missions, Ric Grenell, as interim executive director.
RELATED: Trump Axes Kennedy Center Board Members, Names World Leader As New Chairman
‘NO MORE DRAG SHOWS’: Trump Taps Ric Grenell to Lead the Kennedy Center
During CPAC 2025, Grenell addressed the poor state of the Kennedy Center’s finances, sharing that Pres. Trump likely has the same concerns about the organization’s ability to “Make Art Great Again,” as Grenell put it in the interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns.
I think, I don’t know for sure, but I think the frustration President Trump has is that the Kennedy Center has no cash on hand. No reserves. And they have been paying for the salaries with the debt reserves. While taking around more than 40 million dollars in public money. You can’t have that. If you’re going to take public money, then you get to have public input.
So, what we’re gonna say at the Kennedy Center, first of all, we gotta clean up the financial situation. We have to do the big productions that the masses and the public want to see. We want to have really big programming.
And my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell included one tidbit that leftists went wild over before Grenell cleared it up–and it relates to Thursday’s story:
Grenell also cleared up some misinformation about an artist who supposedly dropped out from performing on the Kennedy Center stage because Trump took over the center and installed Grenell. Grenell made it known that some of these decisions were made before Trump took over, and the decision to drop the act was based on the performance not producing adequate ticket sales.
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He also hinted that the Center will have a special Christmas show. Maybe we’ll get more details on that in the coming months. Anyway, earlier this week, some performers in the traveling cast of “Les Misérables” who were slated to take part in an upcoming charity fundraiser/performance at the Center threatened to boycott it … because Pres. Trump is set to appear.
On Wednesday, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ric Grenell just laid out the “Les Miz” performers, according to industry publication Variety. First, it seemed this was the first time he had heard the “rumor” about the controversy, then he added, “But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund intolerance.”
He stated that it shows who is “unprofessional” in the performance company, and that any producer thinking of hiring any of these performers might be inspired to think again.
Here’s his full quote:
“Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed,” Grenell added. “In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.”
He continued, “The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoy a performance together.”
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This is exactly how Republicans need to handle this sort of childish wokeness from the “resistance” to America First principles and all things Trump. Let’s keep on this path. Warn them that there are real-world consequences for their emotional virtue signaling–and let the chips fall where they may.
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