Kennedy Center

DaisyDay · Mar 14, 2025

Trump’s petty revenge on the Kennedy Center

The theater world powerfully criticized the president’s first term. Now, he’s striking back.

www.vox.com

In February, Trump replaced all Democratic appointees to the board with his own political allies, donors, and their wives, including second lady Usha Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. He also appointed loyalist Ric Grenell as interim executive director. Other celebrities affiliated with the Kennedy Center, including Shonda Rhimes (appointed by former President Barack Obama), have announced their resignation in the wake of Trump’s announcement.

Why make the board of a cultural icon so partisan? How is this not divisive?

RileyG · Mar 14, 2025

His actions do not surprise me.

DaisyDay · Mar 14, 2025

JD Vance Is Booed at a Kennedy Center Concert After Trump’s Takeover

Richard Grenell, whom Mr. Trump named as the center’s new president, posted on social media on Friday morning that the video showing Mr. Vance being booed “should challenge us all to commit to making the Kennedy Center a place where everyone is welcomed.”

“It troubles me to see that so many in the audience appear to be white and intolerant of diverse political views,” he wrote. “Diversity is our strength. We must do better. We must welcome EVERYONE. We will not allow the Kennedy Center to be an intolerant place.”

Bonus: X link: Reuban Reuban I've been thinking
At the 10 sec mark, Vance appears to be taking a swig from a hip flask. Why not get a cocktail from the bar?

DaisyDay · Mar 14, 2025

Should the Kennedy Center be commoditized? Paolo Zampolli says, "Yes!"

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5186575-trump-kennedy-center-board-appointee-dc/

Zampolli says he wants to help make the Kennedy Center a “bankable business.”

...Asked about the nature of those ideas, Zampolli pitched a fashion show with Valentino in honor of the former first lady, including a gala that would sell $200 tickets.

“We can franchise the Kennedy Center’s name in Europe and Asia and the Middle East, like the Louvre does in Abu Dhabi. That would be lucrative,” he said.

“You can build a marina. I’m convinced it would be terrific,” Zampolli continued of the space, which is on the Potomac River, near the famous Watergate complex. “The Kennedy Center is very difficult to access. You put in a little marina, and on the weekend you go there — the yachts [park] there. You go to a beautiful restaurant. It will be a beautiful experience.”

Branding and marketing - that's the name of the game!

iluvatar5150 · Mar 14, 2025

DaisyDay said:
Bonus: X link: Reuban Reuban I've been thinking
At the 10 sec mark, Vance appears to be taking a swig from a hip flask. Why not get a cocktail from the bar?

As funny as that would have been, it’s clearly red wine in a narrow glass.

DaisyDay · Mar 14, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
As funny as that would have been, it’s clearly red wine in a narrow glass.

Thanks. But it wasn't clear to me at all..glad I questioned it.

essentialsaltes · May 29, 2025

DaisyDay said:
Trump’s petty revenge on the Kennedy Center

The theater world powerfully criticized the president’s first term. Now, he’s striking back.

www.vox.com

He also appointed loyalist Ric Grenell as interim executive director.

Kennedy Center vice president says he was fired after past writings, statements questioned

Floyd Brown, who served as the center’s top fundraiser for only several weeks, wrote in a social media post this week he was fired after beingcontacted by a CNN reporter inquiring about his comments on his personal website and other platforms criticizing homosexuality and floating conspiracy theories about former President Obama.

“My only conclusion is [Grenell] was intimidated by a CNN story … so he preemptively fired me for my Christian beliefs on marriage,” Brown said.

The CNN story laid out Brown’s history of attacking Republican leaders and activists for an “acceptance of the open promotion of the gay lifestyle inside the tent of conservatism” and comments calling gay marriage “a hoax” and “godless.”

[Grenell is gay, Christian and presumably exemplifies Brown's comment about the gay lifestyle in the GOP tent.]

iluvatar5150 · May 29, 2025

Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues who do incredible work for the patrons of the Center,”

Yeah, I’m sure his work interactions aren’t impinged on by his open homophobia, because there aren’t any gay people working in or funding the performing arts. Or maybe he just limits his contact to the straight ones, all 5 of them.

durangodawood · May 29, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
Yeah, I’m sure his work interactions aren’t impinged on by his open homophobia, because there aren’t any gay people working in or funding the performing arts. Or maybe he just limits his contact to the straight ones, all 5 of them.

Hey Im one of those 5 straight guys in the performing arts!

iluvatar5150 · May 29, 2025

durangodawood said:
Hey Im one of those 5 straight guys in the performing arts!

Me too! Or at least I was before I switched to video games, which, IME, has fewer gays but way more trans people (mostly trans women) than what I saw in theater.

I don't really like musicals, but being one of the only straight guys in a room full of dancers has its advantages when you're also single.

essentialsaltes · Sep 12, 2025

Kennedy Center Fires Head of Jazz Programming

Kevin Struthers’ dismissal comes after three decades at the arts institution and follows other high-profile exits.

Struthers joined the Kennedy Center in 1995 and oversaw the artistic direction and day-to-day management of its jazz program, which includes the annual Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival and Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead residency for emerging artists.

Struthers’ firing is the latest in a wave of staffing changes since President Donald Trumpassumed control of the Kennedy Center earlier this year, installing allies on its board and in top leadership roles. Other recent changes include the August resignation of Jeffrey Finn, senior vice president of artistic programming, and the appointment of Stephen Nakagawa to lead dance programming after the previous team was laid off.

Aryeh Jay · Sep 12, 2025

Soon we will have a Kennedy Center that will cater to the people who really matter. Perhaps a name change is in order as well.

iluvatar5150 · Sep 12, 2025

Aryeh Jay said:
Soon we will have a Kennedy Center that will cater to the people who really matter. Perhaps a name change is in order as well.

Kid Rock Center? They could save money on a new sign by reusing the K.

essentialsaltes · Sep 12, 2025

Aryeh Jay said:
Soon we will have a Kennedy Center that will cater to the people who really matter. Perhaps a name change is in order as well.

Certainly won't have a jazz line up that looks like a DEI poster.

iluvatar5150 · Sep 12, 2025

essentialsaltes said:
Certainly won't have a jazz line up that looks like a DEI poster.

I mean… In jazz, white people would be the DEI hires.

Kennedy Center

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Kennedy Center vice president says he was fired after past writings, statements questioned​

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Kennedy Center Fires Head of Jazz Programming ​

Stuck on a ship.

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Kennedy Center vice president says he was fired after past writings, statements questioned

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