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.”
Irish-language rap group Kneecap have announced a surprise London show, hours after one of their members was charged with a terror offence.
Liam O’Hanna, or Liam Og O Hannaidh, was charged with displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a concert in London last November, the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
Just hours later, Kneecap announced on their Instagram account that “we’re back”, adding that they would perform at the 100 Club on Oxford Street, London, on Thursday night.
The post also included a quote by former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, who told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the rap trio “maybe (…) need a bloody good kneecapping” after footage of the band allegedly calling for the deaths of MPs emerged.
Kneecap performing in Belfast last year. Pic: PA
Kneecap apologised to the families of murdered MPs last month, but said footage of the incident at their concert had been “exploited and weaponised”, adding that they “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah.
The rappers had gigs cancelled after the footage emerged and politicians pushed for Kneecap to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch calling for Kneecap to be banned.
The group from Belfast in Northern Ireland is still set to headline Wide Awake Festival in south London on Friday.
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In response to O’Hanna being charged, Kneecap said that they “deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves” and branded it “political policing” in a bid to “silence voices of compassion”.
The charge came after counter-terror police assessed a video said to be from a Kneecap concert.
In the footage, O’Hanna is allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, on 21 November last year.
Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware of a video circulating online on 22 April and an investigation led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorising the charge, the force said.
O’Hanna – who performs under the stage name Mo Chara – is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 June.
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