7 d. ago Kennedy Center director snipes at musician for ‘vapidness’ over DEI concerns

Trump ally Richard Grenell sends series of hostile emails to Yasmin Williams despite saying he was ‘too busy’ to do soThe Kennedy Center’s interim executive director, Richard Grenell – a staunch ally of Donald Trump – accused a professional musician of “vapidness” after she emailed him over concerns of the now Trump-controlled center’s rollbacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.Earlier this week, Yasmin Williams, an award-winning musician who has performed multiple times at the Washington DC-based performing arts center, emailed Grenell regarding the center’s DEI plans, pointing to the cancellations of a concert by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington as well as Finn, a children’s musical about a shark who feels different from other sharks. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Richard Grenell engages in ‘bizarre’ email exchange with musician

‘Yes I cut the DEI ******** because we can’t afford to pay people for fringe and niche programming that public won’t support,’ Trump’s acting head of the John F. Kennedy Center reportedly wrote

Politics

9 d. ago Usha Vance was asked about JD calling for rehiring of DOGE staffer who posted ‘normalize Indian hate.’ Here’s how she responded

Usha Vance also described what it was like to be booed alongside her husband at the Kennedy Center

Politics

1 week ago Olivier winner John Lithgow attacks Trump’s second presidency as ‘a disaster’ for US arts

Speaking after his best actor victory, Lithgow said Donald Trump’s administration ‘has done some shocking, destructive things’ especially its takeover of the Kennedy CenterThe actor John Lithgow has described Donald Trump’s second presidency as “a pure disaster” for the arts in the US. Lithgow, speaking after his best actor victory at the Olivier awards in London on Sunday, singled out Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, Washington DC’s national institution for the performing arts. “Our administration has done some shocking, destructive things,” he said, “but the one that grieves me most is taking over the Kennedy Center.”The US president is now chair of the prestigious cultural complex (which was founded as a government-funded, bipartisan venue) and has installed new board members and a new interim leader, loyalist Ric Grenell. The board had been in the process of selecting a successor to outgoing leader Deborah Rutter, who in January announced her intention to step down after ...

Events

3 w. ago Conan O’Brien receives Mark Twain award amid Kennedy Center controversy

Comedian named as recipient shortly before Trump’s takeover of institution

Events

3 w. ago Conan O'Brien is set to receive the Mark Twain award as politics roils the Kennedy Center

Conan O’Brien is set to receive the Mark Twain Prize at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where the backstage drama of the host institution may hang over the celebration

Politics

4 w. ago Trump is trying to crush the arts – and he’s starting with the Kennedy Center | Charlotte Higgins

Artists might cancel shows, donors withdraw and audiences flee. It all plays into the hands of his authoritarian projectIn Washington, Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center – the US’s imposing national centre for the performing arts – presents a bizarre, unnerving and, at times, bleakly comical spectacle. Last month, he announced himself its new chair, replaced 13 board members, and inserted a new interim president, foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell. On Monday this week, the president’s motorcade disgorged him at the building – which contains an opera house, theatre, concert hall and a plethora of smaller venues off its towering, chandelier-hung foyers. By this point, his and Melania Trump’s portraits, alongside those of vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha, had been screwed to the wall beside the concert hall stage door.Trump and his new trustees – who include Usha Vance and Fox presenter Laura Ingraham – then discussed changes to the Kennedy Center Honors, founde...

Politics

4 w. ago Trump’s weird obsession with the arts is part of the authoritarian playbook | Charlotte Higgins

His focus on the Kennedy Center fits a pattern. From Augustus to Stalin, strongmen have sought cultural control for their own endsIn Washington, Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center – the US’s imposing national centre for the performing arts – presents a bizarre, unnerving and, at times, bleakly comical spectacle. Last month, he announced himself its new chair, replaced 13 board members, and inserted a new interim president, foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell. On Monday this week, the president’s motorcade disgorged him at the building – which contains an opera house, theatre, concert hall and a plethora of smaller venues off its towering, chandelier-hung foyers. By this point, his and Melania Trump’s portraits, alongside those of vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha, had been screwed to the wall beside the concert hall stage door.Trump and his new trustees – who include Usha Vance and Fox presenter Laura Ingraham – then discussed changes to the Kennedy Center Hono...

Culture

last month Trump releases thousands of pages on John F Kennedy assassination

Experts doubt new trove of information will change underlying facts in case of 35th president’s deathThe Trump administration on Tuesday released thousands of pages of files concerning the assassination of John F Kennedy, the 35th president who was shot dead in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963.“So people have been waiting decades for this,” Donald Trump told reporters on Monday while visiting the Kennedy Center, “and I’ve instructed my people that are responsible, lots of different people, put together by [director of national intelligence] Tulsi Gabbard, and that’s going to be released tomorrow.” Continue reading...

Politics