2025 has not been an excellent PR yr for the John F. Kennedy Heart For The Performing Arts. In February, Donald Trump fired quite a few board members together with its longtime president Deborah Rutter, after which appointed a fleet of recent staffers to elect him because the establishment’s new chairman. Perturbed by Trump’s aim to take down “woke tradition,” Ben Folds, Renée Fleming, and Shonda Rhimes have all stepped down from their positions on the Kennedy Heart, as artists together with Rhiannon Giddons, Balún, Issa Rae, Low Lower Connie, Amanda Rheaume, and the producers of Hamilton have all canceled previously-scheduled performances there.
The Kennedy Heart’s present interim govt director is Richard Grenell, a Trump crony who was ambassador to Germany throughout the president’s first administration. Right this moment, the composer and guitarist Yasmin Williams shared a sequence of emails she exchanged with Grenell after asking him instantly about modifications on the Kennedy Heart. The responses are telling.
“Most people appear to be putting the blame on the President for [degrading] the previously prestigious establishment, with a number of folks I do know who reside within the space, and elsewhere, stating that they are going to not attend exhibits on the Kennedy Heart and/or gained’t play there till the President leaves workplace,” Williams wrote to Grenell. “With this supplied context, my two questions are: does the President really care about artists cancelling exhibits on the Kennedy Heart? What, if something, has modified concerning the Kennedy Heart concerning hiring practices, efficiency reserving, and staffing?” To that, Grenell responded bizarrely: “Let me ask you this query, would you play for Republicans or would you boycott if Republicans got here to your present?”
When Williams questioned the relevancy of Grenell’s query, he continued: “Each single one that cancelled a present did so as a result of they couldn’t be within the presence of republicans. We didn’t hearth a single present. We don’t cancel a single present. You shouldn’t consider what you learn within the newspapers who exist to hate republicans. Learn extra. Don’t swallow what the media tells you. Don’t be gullible.” (The Kennedy Heart did cancel Finn, a coming-of-age youngsters’s musical, saying it was a “purely monetary determination.”)
Williams then requested, “Is the Kennedy Heart negatively affected by the artists who’re canceling exhibits? What, if something, has modified concerning the Kennedy Heart concerning hiring practices, efficiency reserving, and staffing?” Right here’s the doozy of an e mail Grenell despatched again:
I’m too busy to confront your vapidness to consider what you learn with out doing your personal analysis.
However I’ll say that your assumptions are fallacious. The Kennedy has zero within the financial institution and nil in reserves and has been paying the workers with debt reserve cash for the previous 8 months.
The fundraising has been atrocious. The constructing is falling down and the place hasn’t been up to date in 20 years.
They simply added a brand new facility that they didn’t want and informed donors they might spend $100 million on it – they spent $260 million.
The applications are so woke that they haven’t made cash.
Sure, I lower the DEI bullshit as a result of we will’t afford to pay folks for fringe and area of interest programming that the general public gained’t assist. Sure, I lower the folks making over $500k a yr as a result of we’re in debt. Sure, we’re doing programming for the plenty to be able to pay our payments.
Let me remind, YOU reached out to me unsolicited and accused me of being an illiberal. Don’t be a sufferer now. You requested.
And right here’s Williams’ extremely diplomatic response to that nonsense:
Thanks to your responses! I might request that you simply re-read my unique e mail because you appear to be extraordinarily defensive and impolite for no cause. I by no means accused you of being illiberal… I don’t know you. I used to be relaying what others have mentioned concerning the Kennedy Heart and I requested my very own questions. I’m truthfully shocked at how unprofessional your emails are, however I suppose that’s par for the course as of late, on each side of the political aisle.
“Completely insane” certainly. Learn the trade Williams shared beneath.
