Kennedy Middle Interim Director Ric Grenell accused “Hamilton” producers of staging a “publicity stunt” and being “illiberal” of Republicans after they canceled plans to carry out on the iconic Washington, DC, venue.
The hit Broadway musical’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and producer Jeffrey Vendor mentioned Wednesday that the choice to tug the plug on an upcoming run of exhibits on the Kennedy Middle was due to President Trump’s current transfer to switch a number of board members on the performing arts establishment, together with its former chairman.
“Let’s be clear on the details. Vendor and [Miranda] first went to the New York Occasions earlier than they got here to the Kennedy Middle with their announcement that they will’t be in the identical room with Republicans,” Grenell, who additionally serves as Trump’s envoy for particular missions, wrote on X.
“This can be a publicity stunt that may backfire,” the Trump administration official added.
Grenell charged that the choice makes it clear that the “Hamilton” bigs “don’t need Republicans” at any of their exhibits.
“The Arts are for everybody – not only for the individuals who Lin likes and agrees with,” Grenell mentioned.
“The American individuals have to know that [Miranda] is illiberal of people that don’t agree with him politically,” he continued. “It’s clear he and Sellers [sic] don’t need Republicans going to their exhibits.”
“People see you, Lin.”
Miranda didn’t instantly reply to The Put up’s request for remark.
The Tony-award successful musical, which chronicles the lifetime of founding father Alexander Hamilton, was set for a 3rd run on the Kennedy Middle that will’ve kicked off in March of 2026.
“[I]t’s not the Kennedy Middle as we knew it,” Miranda advised the New York Occasions Wednesday.
“The Kennedy Middle was not created on this spirit, and we’re not going to be part of it whereas it’s the Trump Kennedy Middle,” he added. “We’re simply not going to be a part of it.”
Vendor, in a separate assertion posted on X, mentioned he couldn’t “in good conscience, take part and be part of this new tradition” on the Kennedy Middle.
“In current weeks we have now sadly seen many years of Kennedy Middle neutrality be destroyed,” he wrote. “The current purge by the Trump Administration of each skilled workers and performing arts occasions at or initially produced by the Kennedy Middle flies within the face of every little thing this nationwide cultural heart represents.”
The producer particularly referred to as out Trump’s determination to fireplace Kennedy Middle President Deborah Rutter, Chairman David Rubenstein and different board members.
“We aren’t appearing towards his administration, however towards the partisan insurance policies of the Kennedy Middle because of his current takeover,” Vendor argued.
Trump appointed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Middle board final month, arguing that the earlier management didn’t share his “imaginative and prescient” for the humanities.
The brand new Kennedy Middle board, which incorporates a number of Trump allies, will usher in a “Golden Age in Arts and Tradition” on the famed venue, in keeping with the president.
“We’re going to make the Kennedy Middle in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in a Fact Social publish final month, asserting the firings.
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