Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center will return in Hollywood

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When John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts opened its doors in September 1971, it was a solemn party with a radically new work from Leonard Bernstein: his genre-jumping Lot commissioned by the widow of the nation’s first Catholic president. But there was a cool -facing name that was particularly lacking from the glittering new opera house: sitting President Richard Nixon.

It was no coincidence. The White House had drawn Bernstein’s FBI file – one that eventually spoke more than 800 pages and was obtained by New Yorker‘s classic music Ace Alex Ross through a request for freedom information in 2009 and warned that work would probably reflect Bernstein’s long-understated anti-Vietnam war activism. To get around the potentially awkward evening Nixon attended a national symphony orchestra event instead of leaving this ”son of a bitch“Bernstein at arm’s length. It was Richard Nixon’s approach to this country’s high temple to performing arts. He suspected he would not appreciate a work or its message, but it never dawned on him to shut it down. Nixon as well as everyone, understood the soft potential of power for cultural commitment.

Half a century later, Donald Trump gave A similar wide quay as the Kennedy Center during his first period. He emerged about this position through the center’s annual Kennedy Center Heads, where a handful of artists or groups are honored for contributions to American culture. The president and First Lady traditionally participate in the star -studded ceremony and hosts Honorees in the White House. In Trump’s first year in office, three Honorees threatened to skip over-to-TV event instead of sharing space with Trump. Supported in an impossible corner of weaknessTrump ruled free of the ceremony throughout its period, enabling Norman Lear and Lin-Manuel Miranda to join without shaking Trump’s hand. For Trump it was a real Nixonian view of diplomacy. He never set foot in what is essentially a palace for National Performing Arts.

This time Trump doesn’t feel so magnificent. In a matter of days, the president of the Kennedy Center Board of Directors rejected members appointed by Joe Biden to six years of age appointed the chairman of the governing body, and installed A loyalist, Richard Grenell, as his temporary leader. Wednesday seemed his total acquisition of this institution complete: A board of directors entirely by Trump -appointed unanimously made him the President, in fact, to the police to have the artistic choices that were made on de facto National Scene.

“We want to make the Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!” Trump Sent On his social media platform.

The effect of this maga -takeover of the Kennedy Center could be seen immediately. The center’s long -time boss, Deborah F. Rutter, is Now outand musician Ben Folds Fast withdrew From his post as artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra, who calls the Kennedy Center his home.

The Kennedy Center -Heads may be where Trump’s new commitment plays most visible. Although the Honore’s are elected by the board and past winners, it is hard to imagine the recent winners like Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney, who accept such recognition if they know that Trump had taken on a more conspicuous role. In fact, the Kennedy Center Honor over the next four years may end up going exclusively to the artists who are comfortable standing with Trump.

A similar shift could undergo another Kennedy Center -Franchise -Mark Twain award for American humor -which is usually chosen by a Nebulous Circle of Kennedy Center -Insiders. The award-maybe the most prestigious honor in comedy-has gone in recent years to Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart and Julia-Louis Dreyfus. (This year’s Honoree, Conan O’Brien – which is set to be feted next month – has largely steered away from politics but did back Bid in 2020.)

The effort for all this can seem low – famous people who do not get prices is hardly the biggest problem out there – but what the Kennedy Center chooses to put its phases can recreate in Hollywood and through their products around the world. About 2,200 events take place annually and draw 2 million visitors – all of which can feel Trump’s hand as a curator. And when it stacks its calendar with world premieres in musical theater, operas and orchestra and dance works, Kennedy Center’s lineup also represents a low key piece of cultural diplomacy. There is a reason why the law requires the Secretary of State to have room for the table for board meetings. The Kennedy Center -Typically, makes the state department one of its phases during the weekend’s weekend.

On the surface is Trump accusation His acquisition efforts at the recent Kennedy Center’s events that contained Drag Queens. But all the time, the president is openly thinking about giving himself booking power in the future.

“We took over the Kennedy Center. We didn’t like what they showed and various other things, ”Trump said Monday. “I want to be chairman of it, and we have to make sure it’s good and it won’t be” woke up. “

Politics has never been completely walled from the Kennedy Center, nor has the art ever been immune to politics. The threat of boycotts still spooks any organization where even the smallest whiff could threaten the donors’ loyalties.

Similarly, it is not a risk that many Washington institutions are willing to take at the moment. After Trump signed an executive order ending diversity programs across the federal government, Smithsonian, which is actually not a federal agency, rapidly Eliminated its own such effort. (However, two -thirds of the institution’s employers are federal workers and congress has a supervision and financing role.)

Meanwhile, some companies with government ties are taking steps to remove anything that can draw negative attention from Trump. Just Monday, massive government contractor Booz Allen advertised It fell out as a main sponsor of this summer’s world’s pride, which is expected to draw as many as 3 million LGBTQ -Individuals to the DC region.

So yes, tea Chill is real. Now we are on the verge of seeing a Kennedy center stacked with things of Trump’s taste.

On his social media platform, Trump Sent An AI-generated image of him as a conductor. “Welcome to the new Kennedy Center!” He wrote the false picture when the cleaning of 18 board members shocked the DC Arts community, which had expected another four years of benign indifference.

Nixon understood that the Kennedy Center’s true audience is not the DC amount that plodded the lavish red carpet or stood on the newly restored terrace. The world sees programming on that campus. That is why he stayed away in light of a public scold, but let the world see freedom of speech and art demonstrated without fear of censorship. These days, Trump gives himself a role as a judge of American taste. The Kennedy Center is just another step of Trump, but one he can unilaterally curate based on his whimsle regardless of what messages it sends about national identity.

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