The long-running Broadway musical "Hamilton" has been pulled from performing at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts next year by the producers, citing President Donald Trump's takeover of the venue, and the decision has drawn ire from the president's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell.
"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. Therefore we have cancelled the third engagement at the Kennedy Center, originally scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026," producer Jeffrey Seller wrote in a statement.
Seller noted that Hamilton performed at the Kennedy Center during the first Trump administration in 2018, and said the decision to pull the 2026 performances was a statement "against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent take over."
In February, Trump removed the 18 board members and named himself chair, saying the board did not share the new administration's "vision for a golden age in arts and culture" and saying a performance last year featured a drag show aimed at children.
"I'm going to be chairman of it, and we're going to make sure that it's good and it's not going to be woke. There's no more woke in this country," he said. "Woke has cost us a fortune and cost us our reputation, but the reputation is coming back very, very rapidly."
Grenell blasted Seller and the musical's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, saying the post was a publicity stunt.
"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 posted 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."
Seller ended his post by describing how moved he was as a child seeing the Kennedy Center in 1977 and recalled it being "a beacon of nonpartisanship and celebration."
"But we cannot presently support an intuition that has been forced by external forces to betray its mission as a national cultural center that fosters the free expression of art in The United States of America," Seller concluded.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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