Proponents of President Trump’s shake-up at Washington’s Kennedy Center say the venue’s track record of politicizing art goes beyond drag shows.
In 2019, the nonprofit arts center launched a social impact program that pledged to “advance justice and equity in all that we do.”
According to cultural commentators interviewed by The Washington Times, the facility’s subsequent insistence on making race and sexuality dominant factors in artistic decisions teed up Mr. Trump’s decision this month to reconstitute its board with loyalists to his new administration.
“This isn’t about any one show, per se,” said Gregory Angelo, president of the right-leaning New Tolerance Campaign. “The previous Kennedy Center leadership spewed nothing but liberal talking points and asserted that a [diversity, equity and inclusion] agenda would take center stage. That’s enough reason for a change at the top.”
Fisher Derderian, executive director of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, a conservative art advocacy group, said the social impact program pushed “real questions of artistic excellence” to the back burner.
“To be excellent, something needs to be worth considering and engaging for its own sake, not because it’s trying to make a political point,” said Mr. Derderian, who also serves as an arts commissioner for Costa Mesa, California. “It should be a good show that touches on political themes, not a political show that happens to be art.”
Founded as a public-private partnership in 1958, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, located on the banks of the Potomac River just blocks west of the White House, received $23 million in federal funding for physical upkeep in fiscal year 2025 but supports its programming through $34.5 million in private donations.
Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein was chairman of the board from 2010 until last week. Under his watch, the center’s DEI flourished from a diversity-focused 2023 staging of “The Nutcracker” to hosting drag shows for children to showcasing the musical “& Juliet” in the weeks before Mr. Trump returned to office.
The latter reimagines William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” as a same-sex love story with a feminist critique of patriarchy. In it, Juliet abandons Romeo to pursue a lesbian relationship.
“What comes across in a lot of these reinterpretations is an attempt to subvert any meaning or artistic merit to instead focus on checking off certain boxes,” Mr. Derderian said. “There’s room for forbidden lesbian love plays. But I think the purpose is not always to explore topics, it’s to serve current political needs and desires.”
Buoyed by Mr. Trump’s return to office, conservatives have pushed back on what Mr. Derderian called an “ideological capture of the arts” by DEI activists under the Biden administration.
But the Trump-inspired changes have alarmed some creators.
Kenn Viselman, a producer of more than 50 public television children’s shows from “Teletubbies” to the climate change cartoon “MeteoHeroes,” said the Kennedy Center changes suggest funding for PBS and National Public Radio could be next on the chopping block.
“This is very troubling because it is all determined by how you define what is American or patriotic,” Mr. Viselman said. “Even if you take Trump at his word that he is just trying to create and promote art that is more American, I think the problem is that his version of America is very different from, I dare say, most of the people in the arts.”
Mr. Trump announced plans to fire Biden administration appointees from the Kennedy Center’s 36-member board and replace Mr. Rubenstein in a Feb. 7 post on Truth Social, noting they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP. The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation,” he wrote. “For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
At the time, the center’s board was evenly split between Biden and Trump appointees serving six-year terms, including current Attorney General Pam Bondi.
On Feb. 10, the president named Ric Grenell, his former national security director, as temporary head of the Kennedy Center.
He also fired board members that former President Joseph R. Biden had named before leaving office, including former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Democratic political strategist Mike Donilon.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump’s reconstituted board elected him as its new chairman. According to a list from the Kennedy Center, the 14 board members Mr. Trump appointed included White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, campaign donor Patricia Duggan and the wife of Vice President J.D. Vance, Usha Vance.
It remains unclear whether the Trump administration’s emphasis on patriotic art will allow the center to proceed with the slate of LGBTQ-related events previously planned for WorldPride 2025, which the District will host from May 17 to June 8.
The Capital Pride Alliance is scheduled to sponsor Tapestry of Pride at the Kennedy Center, “a celebration of diversity and unity, weaving together performances, exhibitions, and experiences for all ages.”
Mr. Rubenstein, the outgoing Kennedy Center chairman, declined to comment on the issue. In an email, his spokesman referred The Times to a statement he posted Thursday on X for “current and recent employees.”
“President Kennedy would be proud of your selfless work, your long hours, your commitment to excellence, and your dedication to the performing arts,” said Mr. Rubenstein, who is also the owner and president of the Baltimore Orioles.
Mr. Viselman, who delayed the U.S. release of “MeteoHeroes” until after Mr. Trump’s first term, said cutting such programs would be “the next logical step” in the administration’s campaign to end DEI.
“For sure there won’t be any drag shows at the Kennedy Center, but where does it end? The fear now is that many of these voices will be stifled at best and completely eradicated at worst,“ he said. “Are we going to stop allowing Black stories? Are we going to be able to see gay performers?”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.