Washington, D.C.'s arts community is still reeling from changes made to leadership at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that President Donald Trump had been voted as chair of the board of trustees, the Kennedy Center is seeing fallout from featured performers and some of the remaining board members.
"I really don't want to see any changes. I like it how it is," said one woman who attended a dress rehearsal performance at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
The arts venue and monument to JFK, long a bipartisan institution in the District, removed billionaire David Rubenstein as chair of the board of trustees and replaced him with Trump. The board — featuring 14 new members appointed by the president after he removed 18 Democratic appointees — also removed longtime president Deborah Rutter.
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Posting on his own social media app, TruthSocial, after the vote, Trump said, "It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!"
The takeover has already created ripple effects.
Shonda Rhimes, Emmy-winning creator of TV shows including "Grey's Anatomy" and "Bridgerton," resigned from her position as the board's treasurer late Wednesday night. Rhimes was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Writer and actor Issa Rae, who was scheduled to headline an event at the Kennedy Center in March, announced on Instagram that she is pulling her show.
"Hey D.C. Fam," she began the post to her Instagram story. "Thank you so much for selling out the Kennedy Center for "An Evening With [Me]." Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I've decided to cancel my appearance at this venue."
Rae added that all tickets to the canceled event would be refunded.
Some D.C. residents who have given money to become members of the Kennedy Center are now rethinking their patronage. Rod Divelbiss, who has been a member for the past two years, now believes his money could be better spent elsewhere.
"I'm happy to donate to a nonprofit that helps artists, whether they're at the Kennedy Center or otherwise, but I am very — we are very reluctant to have anything to do [with something] that is headed by Donald J. Trump," he said.
"Why would he do it? Other than he's a bully and he can," Divelbiss said.
The triple threat of artists pulling out, donors ending donations and leadership criticizing the programming means performers like Rebecca Herron are nervous about the Kennedy Center's future.
"It's, it's hard to comprehend that it's real, and it's hard to know what it will mean," Herron said. "I mean, how long has it been? Less than 24 hours."
Herron, one of the founders of Best Medicine Rep Theatre Company in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has performed at the Kennedy Center many times. She's also a frequent patron.
She has tickets to a show in July, but now, she's wondering if that performance will be pulled, too.
"It's specifically on a POC-centric view about how there has been whitewashing in films," Herron said. "And I worry that that show in July might not happen."
Kennedy family member Tim Shriver, the nephew of JFK, told News4, "The Kennedy Center is our nation's tribute to President Kennedy. It must focus on his vision of celebrating creativity and inspiration through the bold and fearless voices of our nation's artists."
"Bold" and "fearless" describes drag performer Tara Hoot, who has in the past done a drag story time — a reading for children — at one of the Kennedy Center’s smaller venues.
"The Kennedy Center is one of those places that you just dream of performing in, or just walking into," Tara Hoot said. "It just takes your breath away when you walk in."
In a social media post, Trump criticized the Kennedy Center for having "featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth," linking the 18 trustee terminations to one of his central goals of shutting down diversity, equity and inclusion programming — commonly referred to as DEI.
"It's a place where art is created, and art is beautiful, and it's gorgeous, and it's thought provoking, and it's diverse," Tara Hoot said of the Kennedy Center. "And it's just a place where I feel celebrated and love walking in those doors."
Tara Hoot's official Instagram account has announced a tongue-in-cheek campaign for Kennedy Center board chair, and an in-person protest -- a "Queer and Trans Dance Party" was scheduled to take place Thursday evening.
"If Trump says he doesn’t want drag happening at the Kennedy Center, guess what’s going to happen?" said Frankie Seaborn, a member of one of the groups organizing the protest. "There’s going to be a drag show right outside the center, because he doesn’t get to dictate what the people of D.C. do."
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