President Donald J. Trump has dismissed the Kennedy Center’s board chairman and trustees not appointed by him, and the newly configured board has fired the center’s president, Deborah Rutter, naming Trump its chairman and an ally as interim president.
In accepting the board chair after its longtime leader, David M. Rubenstein, was dismissed, Trump said in a social-media post that “[w]e will make [t]he Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!” Speaking to reporters on Monday, the president said, “We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things. . . . [W]e’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke.”
“The work of artists doesn’t always make us feel comfortable, but it sheds light on the truth,” Rutter, who had planned to leave later in the year, told the center’s staff in a farewell meeting. “Much like our democracy itself, artistic expression must be nurtured, fostered, prioritized, and protected. It is not a passive endeavor; indeed, there is no clearer sign of American democracy at work than our artists, the work they produce, and audiences’ unalienable right to actively participate.”
Rutter’s interim replacement, Richard Grenell, was US ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration. In December, Trump announced that in his second term Grenell would serve as presidential envoy for special missions.
Soprano Renée Fleming has resigned as an artistic advisor to the center “out of respect” for Rutter, The Washington Post’s Travis M. Andrews, Manuel Roig-Franzia, Janay Kingsberry and Matt Viser report. The singer-songwriter Ben Folds also quit his advisory role with the National Symphony Orchestra.
The National Symphony and Washington National Opera are resident ensembles at the Kennedy Center. The center also presents theater, dance, music, film, speakers and educational series, and its venues are used by Washington area choruses, orchestras and other performing groups.
The Washington Post’s report on the Kennedy Center shakeup:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/02/12/trump-elected-kennedy-center-board-chair/