Why artists are boycotting Kennedy Center over changes made by Trump
Artists are boycotting America’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in protest at changes made by Donald Trump.
Several performers have cancelled shows at the iconic venue in Washington DC after the president made himself chairman and replaced board members with political loyalists.
One musician told Sky News it was “authoritarianism coming for arts institutions”.
The Kennedy Center in Washington DC
The Kennedy Center stage is seen as a showcase for the best of American performance art.
It hosts more than 2,000 shows per year, including its annual honours ceremony, which celebrates artists who have made significant contributions to US culture. Previous honourees include Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, and Led Zeppelin.
Its board of trustees has traditionally been made up of appointees who span the political spectrum.
Inside the Kennedy Center, where Trump has installed himself as chairman
However, following Trump’s election, he got rid of 18 board members and replaced them with people more politically aligned with him, including his chief-of-staff Susie Wiles, and Fox presenters Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo.
As the new chairman of the board, Trump said of its production schedule: “We didn’t like what they were showing, we’re going to make sure it’s good and it’s not going to be woke.”
The hit Broadway show Hamilton is among the artists and productions to cancel dates at the Kennedy Center in protest. Others include the actor and producer Issa Rae, mystery writer Louise Penny and Pulitzer Prize-winning folk musician Rhiannon Giddens.
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The rock band Low Cut Connie switched their Kennedy Center show to a different venue in Washington DC.
Frontman Adam Weiner told Sky News: “It will affect the arts. And Trump taking over the Kennedy Center, firing half the board, changing the programming. This is authoritarianism coming for arts institutions. I’m a working artist and I won’t stand for it.”
Adam Weiner, the front man of Low Cut Connie
Low Cut Connie performed at a different venue in Washington DC
He added: “Countries around the world have dealt with authoritarianism before. We’re a young country. This is an American experiment and we do not, collectively in this country, have a memory of what authoritarianism can do.
“We’re kind of sleepwalking in this country. People do not realise how bad this situation can get and it seems like a slow drip but we’re moving quicker than people realise. I fear that among artists, not speaking about these changes is tacit approval. It is a capitulation.”
Trump has extended his reach into the arts world by naming his friends Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as “special ambassadors” to Hollywood “for the purpose of… bringing Hollywood back bigger, better and stronger than ever before”.
Robin Givhan, a senior critic-at-large at The Washington Post
On the Kennedy Center changes, Robin Givhan, a senior critic-at-large at The Washington Post, told Sky News: “I think what this does is it sends a message that some ideas are not welcome. But I think even more than that, it suggests that this is a president who doesn’t just want to control who’s performing on the stage.”
“It’s a desire to control the perceptions of the people who are sitting in the audience and to me, that is far more disturbing.”
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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