'Hamilton' cancels Kennedy Center run; Grenell fires back
Producers of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” are canceling plans to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington next year, pointing to President Trump’s “takeover” of the Washington, D.C., institution and drawing pushback from the new interim executive director.
Lead producer Jeffrey Seller called the Kennedy Center a “sacred” setting that should be “protected from politics.”
“Given the recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” Seller said in a statement on Wednesday.
Seller said the third iteration of “Hamilton” at the Kennedy Center, scheduled for March 3-April 26, was canceled.
“We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover,” the producer wrote.
President Trump named himself the chair of Washington’s cultural institution in early February after ending the terms of multiple members of the Kennedy Center’s board. At the time, Trump said, “We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
A number of stars fled from Kennedy Center groups after the president’s ascension to chair.
Trump also named his envoy for special missions Richard Grenell as the interim executive director of the center, saying the former acting director of national intelligence shares his vision “for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture, and will be overseeing the daily operations of the Center.”
Grennell hammered Seller and show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, saying they orchestrated a “publicity stunt,” and argued the pair do not want Republican Party voters attending their show.
"Seller and @Lin_Manuel first went to the New York Times before they came to the Kennedy Center with their announcement that they can’t be in the same room with Republicans,” Grenell said Wednesday on X. “This is a publicity stunt that will backfire. The Arts are for everyone - not just for the people who Lin likes and agrees with.”
“The American people need to know that @Lin_Manuel is intolerant of people who don’t agree with him politically. It’s clear he and Sellers don’t want Republicans going to their shows,” added Grenell, former ambassador to Germany.
The show was played at the center in 2018, during Trump’s first term, and in 2022, during former President Biden’s term.
Seller said the “neutrality” of the Kennedy Center has been “destroyed" and the recent "purge” of the professional staff and performing arts events “flies in the face of everything this natural cultural center represents.”
He said the cancellation is also a “business decision.”
“‘Hamilton’ is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of ‘Hamilton’ if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement,” Seller said.
“The actions of the new Chairman of the Board in recent weeks demonstrate that contracts and previous agreements simply cannot be trusted,” he added. “This is sad, because basic integrity and the rule of law have long been great American principles that help serve as a foundation for our Nation.”
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