Donald Trump loyalist and Kennedy Center boss Richard Grenell is in meltdown mode after yet another prestigious artist backed out of performing at the once-iconic venue.
Grammy-winning bluegrass performer Béla Fleck cited political influence for withdrawing from an upcoming show at the venue, which now has signage calling it “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
“Performing there has become charged and political, at an institution where the focus should be on the music,” Fleck posted on social media on Tuesday before pulling out of three shows with the National Symphony Orchestra due to take place at the venue in February as part of the “American Mosaic” series.
“I look forward to playing with the NSO another time in the future when we can together share and celebrate art,” Fleck added.
The post appeared to infuriate Grenell, who believes the center is bipartisan and that a “woke mob” is forcing artists to scrap shows at the venue, citing problems with President Donald Trump and his administration.
“You just made it political and caved to the woke mob who wants you to perform for only Lefties,” Grenell posted on X, channelling MAGA talking points.
“This mob pressuring you will never be happy until you only play for Democrats.”
Grenell said the venue welcomes Democrats, Republicans, and also “people uninterested in politics.”
“We want performers who aren’t political,” he said, “who simply love entertaining everyone regardless of who they voted for.”
Fleck’s decision follows Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, who announced this week that he pulled out of appearing at an upcoming Washington National Opera gala at the Kennedy Center in May as it has “now become an ideological statement.”
The three-time Oscar winner said there was “no way” he would enter the building, which he helped to launch in 1971 with Leonard Bernstein.
“It no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be,” the 77-year-old said. “As long as that remains the case, I will not appear there.”
In retaliation, Grenell claimed on X that the Schwartz reports are “totally bogus” and “he was never signed and I’ve never had a single conversation on him since arriving.”
However, the Washington National Opera confirmed to The Washington Post that Schwartz had agreed to host the gala.
“The WNO had an email agreement with him regarding his participation and planning for the event,” Francesca Zambello, artistic director of the WNO, told the Post. “We respect his personal decision.”
Trump’s handpicked board voted on Dec. 18 to add the president’s name to the building, despite having zero legal authority to do so.
Since then, more than 10 artists have pulled out of upcoming performances at the venue, including Fleck and Schwartz.
Previously, jazz drummer Chuck Redd axed a Christmas Eve show after seeing the name change on the venue’s website while jazz group The Cookers pulled out of two New Year’s Eve shows, an annual tradition since 2006.
The Cookers’ former tenor saxophonist, Billy Harper, posted on Facebook, “I would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture.”
Comedian Issa Rae, folk act Rhiannon Giddens, musician Kristy Lee, trumpeter Wayne Tucker, The Brentano Quartet with violist Hsin-Yun Huang, folk duo Magpie, and Doug Varone and Dancers have all declined to play at the venue due to its links to the Trump administration.
Lee said of her decision, “I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck.”
A production of Hamilton has also been pulled from a scheduled March and April run at the Kennedy Center, while musicians Ben Folds and Renée Fleming also stepped down from their advisory roles at the venue.
