‘Hamilton’ cancel Kennedy Center run due to President Trump’s involvement
After President Donald Trump was elected chair of the board at the Kennedy Center, the hit Broadway show Hamilton will no longer be visiting the cultural institution next spring.
The board at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts held a vote on February 12th, 2025, to confirm and announce Trump’s involvement. After the voting process, he explained his gratitude on Truth Social, calling it a “great honor” to be elected among an “amazing Board of Trustees,” promising to “make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
As a result of Trump’s involvement with the Kennedy Center, Ben Folds resigned from his eight-year stint as artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, and Screenwriter Shonda Rhimes also withdrew from her position.
Now, it has been confirmed that Hamilton will no longer take to the stage at the Kennedy Center for a residency in Washington in 2026.
“This latest action by Trump means it’s not the Kennedy Center as we knew it,” the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said in a joint interview with the New York Times with Hamilton’s lead producer, Jeffrey Seller. “The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We’re just not going to be part of it.”
Seller also stated that the entire team behind Hamilton are furious with Trump who they believe has “took away our national arts center for all of us.”
Furthermore, in a post on X, Seller posted on the Hamilton page: “Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy. These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of Hamilton. However, some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution.”
Prior to being elected onto the board at the Kennedy Center, Trump criticised their diverse range of programming. “We don’t need woke at the Kennedy Center,” he said. “Some of the shows were terrible, a disgrace that they were even put on.”
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