Kennedy Center slams activist performers boycotting Trump: 'Vapid and intolerant'



Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell said performers boycotting President Donald Trump "won't be welcomed" to the venue.

Grenell's comments came after cast members of "Les Misérables" announced they will be boycotting Trump's appearance next month. Grenell pushed back at these performers, calling them "vapid and intolerant artists" who lack professionalism.

'The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoys a performance together.'

"Any performer who isn't professional enough to perform to patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won't be welcomed," Grenell said in a statement.

"In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience," Grenell added.

The cast of "Les Misérables" has not been the only prominent Trump critic in the theater. Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the hit musical "Hamilton,"also said he was going to cancel his performances at the Kennedy Center.

“The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center" Miranda said. "We're just not going to be a part of it."

Grenell maintained that the Kennedy Center is an apolitical venue and that anyone who fails to treat it as such is unwelcome.

"The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoys a performance together," Grenell said.

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A viral screenshot shared on X purports  to show banners with President Donald Trump’s image currently hanging at the Kennedy Center. Can’t wait till we tear this down one day. Waste of taxpayer money. pic.twitter.com/HaklLbyBnU — James Tate (@JamesTate121) March 11, 2025 Verdict: False The screenshot does not show an authentic image but an illustration featured […]

A bomb threat exposes the dark reach of authoritarian regimes



Growing up under the Islamic Republic of Iran, I know firsthand how authoritarian regimes target those who are fortunate enough to flee their tyranny, and that is precisely what happened at the Kennedy Center last week.

For decades, authoritarian regimes have deployed tactics of intimidation to silence voices of resistance and reshape societies in their own image. The recent bomb threat at the Kennedy Center is not simply an isolated attack on a Shen Yun performance; it is a deliberate assault on the very fabric of American identity and a clear message to those, like myself, who have taken refuge here.

I witnessed firsthand how state-sponsored violence is wielded to suppress freedom and control populations.

Our nation’s cultural institutions are not just buildings — they are symbols of resilience, creativity, and freedom. When threats like these emerge on our soil, they are designed to disrupt an event and instill fear among those who embody the spirit of dissent and free expression.

When the Chinese Communist Party or any other despotic regime or their proxies dare to employ bomb threats on American soil — even if aimed at cultural events that attract those who have escaped their tyranny — it is an attack on America itself. This tactic of psychological warfare is far too familiar for those who have experienced the consequences of authoritarian rule firsthand.

Living in Iran and later serving in the U.S. military, I witnessed firsthand how state-sponsored violence is wielded as a tool to suppress freedom and control populations. In regimes like Iran and China, fear is systematically used to stifle dissent and maintain power. The bomb threat is a stark reminder that such tactics are not relics of distant lands — they can and do manifest on U.S. soil. This notion should alarm every American who values liberty.

Why target cultural institutions?

The Kennedy Center is more than just a performance venue. It stands as a bastion of American culture, a place where art and expression converge to celebrate the ideals that make this nation unique. Attacks on such institutions send a chilling message: The guardians of our cultural heritage and free expression are not safe from the reach of authoritarian intimidation. Whether intended to silence a performance or to intimidate those who dare to defy despotic regimes, these actions threaten to erode the pillars upon which our society is built.

This incident is emblematic of a broader strategy — a campaign designed to create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty among freethinkers and cultural dissidents. When acts of intimidation are normalized, the very notion of dissent becomes dangerous. If we allow such tactics to go unchecked, we risk not only the safety of individuals but also the erosion of a collective national identity that has long been a beacon of hope and freedom.

An antidote to intimidation

The Kennedy Center bomb threat should serve as a rallying cry for every citizen who cherishes freedom. When free expression is threatened, the assault is not confined to a select few — it strikes at the heart of our national identity.

We must not allow foreign authoritarian forces to use terror as a tool to undermine our national values. Instead, we need to unite in the face of intimidation and reaffirm our commitment to free expression, open debate, and protecting our cultural institutions.

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Sean Spicer tells Glenn Beck how Biden unwittingly helped Trump fire 'anyone he wants'



President Donald Trump cleaned house last week at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the nation's capital. Trump fired all 18 board members who were appointed by Democratic presidents, then appointed MAGA allies, who ultimately made him their chairman.

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on Tuesday that the turfing of Biden loyalists at the Kennedy Center and other appointees throughout the government was made possible by a strategic blunder on the part of the previous administration.

Spicer indicated that after he exited the role of White House press secretary in July 2017, Trump appointed him to the U.S. Naval Academy board of visitors for a three-year term, which would expire on Dec. 30, 2021.

Although Spicer had time left in his term, he received an email on Sept. 8, 2021, from the Biden White House demanding that he resign by 6 p.m. that day. The letter indicated that should he fail to comply, his "position with the Board will be terminated."

Spicer indicated that he didn't resign and was fired.

Recalling his reaction, Spicer told Beck, "I was like, 'You couldn't just wait 60 days just to have it for free?'"

"So it turns out he fired everybody," said Spicer. "Myself, from the Naval Academy board. Russ Vought from the Naval Academy board. And then a guy named [Ret. Gen. H.R.] McMaster from the West Point board."

Spicer told Beck he was approached shortly thereafter by White House adviser Stephen Miller and his legal outfit, America First Legal, who proposed suing Biden to force him to "argue that he has the absolute authority to fire anybody."

The complaint they ultimately filed stated that Biden "has no authority to terminate Mr. Spicer's and Mr. Vought's appointments to the Board" and lacked the "constitutional authority under Article II to terminate Mr. Spicer's and Mr. Vought's appointments to the Board because it is a purely advisory nonpartisan entity that does not wield any executive power."

U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in 2022 that neither Spicer nor Vought were insulated from removal, suggesting that doing so "would raise serious constitutional issues, as Board members are executive officials whose 'only role ... is to advise the President on the performance of a quintessentially executive function.'"

'Joe Biden was so petty.'

Spicer and Vought appealed Friedrich's decision but dropped their appeal after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a separate case regarding another Trump appointee's removal from the board of a federal agency that as a general rule, the president "may freely remove his subordinates."

Spicer told Beck that in the wake of his apparent legal defeat, "the media started calling, Glenn, and said, 'You lost the case.' And I said at the time, 'Did I?'"

Poetic justice would have it that Biden's supposed victories in court paved the way for Trump to remove Katherine Petrelius — the woman who emailed Spicer in September 2021, telling him to resign — and other Democratic appointees from the Kennedy Center board earlier this month.

A spokesman for the center told the Washington Post that the organization didn't fight Trump's takeover on account of the precedent set in Spicer's case.

"Never in the history of the United States has any president ever removed somebody from a service academy board prior to their term being done for anything less than malfeasance. And even that, we can't find an example. Never!" Spicer told Beck. "Joe Biden was so petty."

Upon learning that Biden's pettiness "has given President Trump the authority to fire anyone he wants," Spicer said he was "ecstatic."

"I think it's absolutely fantastic," said Beck. "I thank you for what you did. And, you know, the only thing that would make it better is if you or I were on the board of the Kennedy Center and we could announce that Lee Greenwood's residency was taking place at the Kennedy Center."

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Analysis: Trump's Kennedy Center Purge Is a Total Coup—for Equity and Inclusion

President Donald Trump has revolutionized the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by ousting 18 Democratic appointees from the board of trustees and replacing them with normal Americans. On Wednesday, the new board unanimously elected a fabulous chairman (Trump) who is determined to preside over a "Golden Age of Arts and Culture" in this country after four years of vapid slop under former president Joe Biden. "I think we're going to make it hot," Trump said on a conference call with Kennedy Center board members. "And we made the presidency hot, so this should be easy."

The post Analysis: Trump's Kennedy Center Purge Is a Total Coup—for Equity and Inclusion appeared first on .

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