A group of actors from a Kennedy Center production of Les Miserables have threatened not to show up to perform for the president when he intends to see the show on June 11. A full 10 out of 12 of the actors in the touring company said that they would boycott the performance.
In response to the report from CNN, Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell said the "intolerance" would not be tolerated. "We haven't heard this rumor," he said in a statement. "But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund this intolerance."
CNN had reported, per sources, that "The cast was given the option to not perform the night Trump will be in the audience, and both major cast members and members of the ensemble are among those sitting out."
"Any performer who isn't professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation," Grenell said, "won't be welcomed. In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid 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," Grenell went on, "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 enjoy a performance together."
President Trump had been intending to hold a fundraiser for the performing arts center. The idea was to use "the Les Mis opening as an opportunity" to generate income for the center.
The Trump administration has sought to revamp the Kennedy Center. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump fired the board of directors and cast himself in the role of chair. Hollywood and Broadway celebrities were displeased by this move.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and his anniversary production of Hamilton cancelled their performance at the Kennedy Center, saying "We're not going to be part of it while it the Trump Kennedy Center."
"This latest action by Trump means it's not the Kennedy Center as we knew it," Miranda said in February. "The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we're not going to be part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We're just not going to be part of it."
Grenell pushed back against that, too, calling it a "publicity stunt" that he believed would "backfire."
"The Arts are for everyone," he said further, "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. Americans see you, Lin."
Other celebs have removed themselves from the mileiu of The Kennedy Center as a means to protest the federal government and the man who heads it up. These include Issa Rae, Shonda Rhimes, Ben Folds, and others.
