Fallout At The Kennedy Center After Trump Takeover

TV producer extraordinaire Shonda Rhimes and singer-songwriter Ben Folds have left their positions at the Kennedy Center, while actress Issa Rae has canceled performances there following President Donald Trump’s takeover of the Washington, D.C. arts institution’s board.

Rhimes, the award-winning showrunner and CEO of Shondaland, resigned her post as board treasurer without comment.

Folds left his role as artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble under the center’s ambit.

Posting on Instagram, he wrote “Given the developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I’m resigning as artistic advisor to the NSO. Not for me. It’s been a wonderful 8 years working with Kennedy Center president Deb Rutter, fellow artistic advisor Renee Fleming, NSO artistic administrator Justin Ellis, and the entire NSO staff, encouraging thousands of fresh new audiences to appreciate the symphonic music. Mostly, and above all, I’ll miss the musicians of our nation’s symphony orchestra – just the best!”

Rae’s appearance at the center was sold out, but she canceled nevertheless. The creator and star of HBO’s “Insecure” did not explicitly name Trump in her statement.

“Thank you so much for selling out the Kennedy Center,” she wrote on Instagram. “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.”

After railing against the Kennedy Center’s programming, late last week Trump announced his intention to “terminate” multiple board members. Ultimately he fired 18 board members appointed by Democrats.

“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” the president said in a Truth Social post last week. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation.”

The law creating the Kennedy Center — which is funded through a mix of public subsidy and private donations — does not prohibit a president from replacing board members wholesale, though historically the institution, which enjoys broad bipartisan support from Congress, has remained above the tumble of politics.

The new board includes Trump — as promised, he was elected chairman — along with Second Lady Usha Vance, prominent Trump supporters or their spouses, the wives of select Cabinet members and country singer and Trump support Lee Greenwood, who previously collaborated with Trump on a special edition of the Bible, retailing at $60.

In a phone call to the new board obtained by CNN, Trump said he would end “wokey” programming at the Center — earlier this week, he decried “woke” performances at the Kennedy Center though he provided no examples and admitted he’d not actually attended anything there — and said” I think we’re going to make it hot. And we made the presidency hot, so this should be easy.”