Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell panned an invite-only pride event that the team behind the hit musical Hamilton organized in coordination with five Democratic senators on Monday evening to protest President Donald Trump’s takeover of the national cultural center.

In a lengthy statement, Grenell said he was “disappointed to learn” that Jeffrey Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the producer and creator of Hamilton, respectively, decided to “boycott the Kennedy Center, refusing to perform for audience members who don’t share their personal politics, and cosplay as victims of intolerance.”

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In March, the Hamilton team canceled its planned performances, which were initially slated for the Kennedy Center next year. Despite their intended boycott, the duo proceeded with Monday’s performance.

“I cannot begin to understand what business it is of Mr. Seller or Mr. Miranda how audience members vote or how it could possibly be relevant to the sacred relationship between performers and ticket holders,” Grenell said, “but they’ve made it clear that they won’t perform for audiences that might contain Americans who disagree with them on matters irrelevant to the arts.”

Grenell’s comments referred to a 90-minute Pride concert staged by Democratic lawmakers, led by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). The musical performance, titled Love Is Love, was also hosted by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV).

The New York Times reported on the event, which Grenell suggested Hickenlooper organized under false pretenses.

“Earlier this month, Senator [Hickenlooper’s] staff asked to rent space at the Kennedy Center for what his team billed as a first annual Talent show. We were pleased to welcome them to the Kennedy Center in this capacity,” he said.

“We were only later notified by the New York Times that Senator Hickenlooper’s event was instead an invite-only political stunt where, once again, the Kennedy Center was being used by political operatives to larp as victims of intolerance in order to get a story in the Times,” he added.

Earlier this month, a group of drag performers entered the same showing of Les Misérables that Trump and Vice President JD Vance attended with their wives. The political stunt was seen as an act of defiance against the Trump administration.

Trump previously criticized the Kennedy Center’s programming for being too “woke” when he took over the cultural institution by appointing Grenell as its leader, naming himself chairman, and firing members of the board of trustees.

“NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in February.

In line with Trump’s anti-woke vision for the arts, Grenell moved to cut diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and LGBT programming at the Kennedy Center in favor of family-friendly shows.

“This is our way of reoccupying the Kennedy Center,” Seller told the New York Times about the invite-only pride event. “This is a form of saying, ‘We are here, we exist and you can’t ignore us.’ This is a protest, and a political act.”

Grenell assured the public that the Kennedy Center has not been canceling anyone who disagrees with the Trump administration and instead welcomes “everyone who wants to celebrate the arts” on both sides of the aisle.

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“We especially welcome artists and audience members who come to the Kennedy Center not for partisan political pranks but to experience excellence in the performing arts,” he said, pointing out the Hamilton duo’s performance in light of their boycott.

“I am glad that Mr. Seller or Mr. Miranda have decided to perform at the Kennedy Center after having previously decided to boycott it entirely,” he said, “but I hope they’ll soon consider performing for all the families, school children, and others from across America who come to the Kennedy Center without imposing on them a political litmus test.”