Musician Ben Folds, opera singer Renee Fleming, and TV showrunner Shonda Rimes have all walked away from their posts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the wake of President Trump gutting the center's board made up of Biden appointees, then appointing a new group that promptly installed him as the performing-arts venue's chair. Now, Issa Rae has joined those running for the exit, ditching her sold-out "An Evening With Issa Rae" event scheduled at the Kennedy Center in March, reports the New York Times and CBS News.
"Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I've decided to cancel my appearance at this venue," the 40-year-old writer, producer, and Barbie actor wrote Thursday in an Instagram story. Rae noted that all those who'd purchased tickets would get their money back.
The Washington Post notes the overall "climate of fear" at the Kennedy Center amid other staff firings and shows falling off the upcoming program lineup, including at least two that either explicitly or more subtly covered the LGBTQ+ experience. "It's concerning he would want to exert this much power over a nonprofit," one ex-employee said. "The people whose lives he's throwing into chaos aren't government employees. They're arts administrators." A current staffer simply says, "I don't feel safe," noting that Trump's remarks about the center have "collapsed all the nuance of what we do."
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Not everyone is bummed about the changes. "It doesn't all have to be bow tie and chardonnay and cheese," says Marc Rotterman, a political commentator who worked for the Reagan administration. "Maybe the blue-collar crowd with a Budweiser could appear once in a while." At any rate, it seems like Rae won't be twiddling her thumbs next month now that her schedule is freed up—the AP reports she's jumped into the ownership group of Major League Expansion team San Diego FC. (More Kennedy Center stories.)
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