Kennedy Center hopes coupons will fix toxic Trump takeover
The Kennedy Center has seen better days. Since President Donald Trump stormed into what was once Washington, D.C.’s bipartisan center for the arts and cleared out any semblance of LGBTQ+ or diversity, equity and inclusion, tickets sales are plummeting.
According to the cold, hard data obtained by The New York Times, single-ticket sales were down roughly 50% in April and May compared to the same time last year. And subscriptions, which the Kennedy Center relies on the most for its revenue, is suffering even more. Theater revenue is down 82% while dance dropped 57%.
Then again, if you ask the Trump administration, they will outright deny the facts—which were confirmed by a Kennedy Center staff member. According to Kim Cooper, the Kennedy Center’s senior vice president of marketing, the numbers are lower this year because they changed how they structure subscriptions.
“Our renewal campaign is just kicking off and our hard-copy season brochures have not yet hit homes,” Cooper told the Times.
However, there’s some math not adding up here. While Trump’s team is trying to grin and bear it, they’re also signing backdoor marketing deals with MAGA-aligned businesses to try to get more sales.
According to Axios, Butterworth’s—MAGA’s favorite bistro—will now offer Kennedy Center ticket holders a whopping 10% discount at their bar. The cocktail bar—whose investors include the likes of War Room cofounder Raheem Kassam—has frequent guests like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert who, depending on the night, have to be seated far away from each other.
But that’s not the only sign of distress for the arts center; the facility is continuing to purge vital talent. As Daily Kos previously reported, “Hamilton” tipped its hat to the administration and refused to perform a scheduled tour.
And when Trump decided to start handpicking—and tossing out—board members at the center, other prominent names decided to take matters into their own hands as well. Producer and writer Shonda Rhimes and musician Ben Folds both bid adieu in February as their friends and colleagues were being given the boot.
Today, however, Trump is facing another round of refusals. As “Les Misérables” is set to hit the stage in D.C. on June 11, a handful of its castmembers will be absent due to refusal to perform for the president.
Richard Grenell, Trump's appointed president of the Kennedy Center, had a seething response when he received the news back in May.
“Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed,” he said in a statement to CNN. “In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire—and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience. The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoys a performance together.”
Related | JD Vance finds out again just how much everyone hates him
As the potential political litmus test nears, Trump is expected to be in attendance regardless of how he might be received. Despite crowds booing his vice president earlier this year, JD Vance will also be there with his wife, Usha.
Of course, they’ll be charging people $2 million a pop to watch the half-casted play and for a photo op with the president—so maybe Vance was told to endure “one day more.”
Campaign Action