Shonda Rhimes and Ben Folds have stepped down from their positions at the Kennedy Center amid a wave of resignations after president Donald Trump was elected chair of the iconic institution’s board.
The board of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted on Wednesday to confirm Trump’s appointment. “It is a Great Honor to be chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
Soon after, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner and Shondaland CEO Shonda Rhimes resigned as treasurer to the board.
The Independent has reached out to Rhimes’s representatives for comment.
Singer-songwriter Ben Folds resigned as artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, a position he had been appointed to in 2017.
“Given the developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I’m resigning as artistic advisor to the NSO. Not for me,” Folds wrote in a statement on Instagram.
“It’s been a wonderful 8 years working with Kennedy Center president Deb Rutter, fellow artistic advisor Renee Fleming, NSO artistic administrator Justin Ellis, and the entire NSO staff, encouraging thousands of fresh new audiences to appreciate the symphonic music. Mostly, and above all, I’ll miss the musicians of our nation’s symphony orchestra – just the best!”
The Kennedy Center, long considered a powerful tool in US cultural diplomacy, oversees both the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.
Grammy-winning opera singer and actress Renée Fleming also stepped down as artistic adviser to the centre, writing on Instagram that it had been “a privilege”. She praised former chair David Rubenstein and former president Deborah Rutter as being “an inspiration to me”.
The wave of resignations came after Trump declared on Friday that he would buck decades of bipartisanship at the Kennedy Center, which is both publicly and privately funded, and push out trustees appointed by former president Joe Biden who “don’t share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture”.
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The president has accused the influential national arts complex of being too “woke” and taken issue with recent events featuring performers in drag.
“We don’t need woke at the Kennedy Center,” Trump told reporters this week. “Some of the shows were terrible, a disgrace that they were even put on,” he added, though he noted he didn’t actually attend any of the events he took issue with.
The Kennedy Center leaders appeared blindsided by Trump’s announcement last week. “Per the center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the center’s board members,” the center said in a statement.
“There is nothing in the center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.”
Trump’s history with the Kennedy Center hasn’t been harmonious. He refused to attend the Kennedy Center Honors in his first term, after some attendees, including Norman Lear and Lionel Richie, said they intended to boycott the festivities over Trump’s lukewarm denunciation of white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville.
