Since President Trump took over as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in February, artists' responses have been mixed. Some, including Issa Rae, Rhiannon Giddens and the musical Hamilton, cancelled performances in protest. Others, like comedian W. Kamau Bell and the band Guster, decided to move forward.
Yasmin Williams and Cathy Fink, two musicians with deep ties to the cultural center, emailed the Center's interim president Richard Grenell directly — but his replies caught them off guard.
On Wednesday, Williams wrote to what appears to be Grenell's official Kennedy Center email telling him she's performed at the center many times over the years. "I've always had a great time playing there and I hope to do so in the near future," she wrote. "Along with performing at the Center, I've also attended many wonderful shows throughout the years and plan on continuing to be a patron."
But she explained why many people feel concerned about cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the center — such as the dissolution of its Social Impact team, which focused on outreach for underserved communities — and that some blame President Trump for the changes in programming, vowing not to perform or attend functions at the Kennedy Center for the remainder of his administration.
"My two questions are: does the President actually care about artists cancelling shows at the Kennedy Center?" Williams asked. "What, if anything, has changed about the Kennedy Center regarding hiring practices, performance booking, and staffing?"
Within two hours, Grenell responded: "Let me ask you this question, would you play for Republicans or would you boycott if Republicans came to your show?"
The email was signed "ric."
NPR reviewed the emails and they appear to be legitimate, originating from an email address that belongs to Grennell. The Kennedy Center and Grenell did not respond to NPR's multiple requests for comment.
Williams told Grenell she believes Republicans have been in her audiences in the past and does not believe in boycotting shows for this reason. In further responses, Grenell said that the Kennedy Center did not cancel a single performance and cancellations were a result of artists who did not want to perform for Republicans. "You shouldn't believe what you read in the newspapers who exist to hate Republicans," he wrote. "Read more. Don't swallow what the media tells you. Don't be gullible."
In a message immediately following, he wrote, "Your people also booed and harassed the vice president who simply wanted to enjoy music with his wife for a night. Who is the intolerant one?"
Williams reiterated her original questions and asked Grenell to avoid making assumptions about her political stances, urging him to maintain a professional tone.
"I'm too busy to confront your vapidness to believe what you read without doing your own research," Grenell wrote. He told her the Kennedy Center had "zero in the bank" and he "cut the DEI b******** because we can't afford to pay people for fringe and niche programming that the public won't support."
Former Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter declined to comment on Grenell's claims, but records published by ProPublica indicate that the center made a profit of over $6 million in the fiscal year ending in September 2023, the last year with publicly available records. The Washington Post reported that claims made by Grenell and the center's new chief financial officer, Donna Arduin, alleging that the Kennedy Center has an operating deficit of over $100 million, do not account for donations and grants that make up a significant portion of the nonprofit's revenue.
An increasingly tense conversation
In an interview with NPR, Williams said she initially didn't believe the responses were coming from Grenell himself, but as the conversation became increasingly tense, she decided to share screenshots on social media.
"Before this email exchange occurred, I didn't like how so many artists were canceling shows [at the Kennedy Center] because I just know so many people who work there and they need the income," she said. "But after this email exchange, I can't in good conscience tell someone to spend their money and help this man do anything."
Williams is not the only artist who took matters into her own hands. Grammy-winning musician Cathy Fink has been performing and collaborating with the Kennedy Center since the 1980s. She told NPR she'd never contacted the center's president until this year, when she became increasingly worried about shakeups in leadership and programming.
In March, Fink wrote Grenell a lengthy email detailing her concerns, including reports about show cancellations, and citing a quote from a Washington Post article in which Grenell reportedly expressed a commitment to diverse points of view.
"If as you say, you take 'diversity and inclusion very seriously,' then I would be very interested in hearing what action steps you plan to take to make sure that everyone feels welcome and that diverse artistic points of view are experienced at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts," Fink wrote. She concluded the email offering to meet in person.
Grenell responded: "Can you tell me why you believe the Wash post? We didn't cancel a single show. You are flat wrong."
The Kennedy Center has previously said that all shows that have been cancelled were cancelled by the artists themselves.
Fink reached out to Grenell again, trying to find common ground in their experiences as cancer survivors, and reiterating her hope that they could meet to discuss their points of view. Grenell did not address Fink's attempts to connect in person.
Fink said she's disappointed by how Grenell responded to her and to Williams.
"They're anything but leadership style correspondences," she said. "The arts are what connect us. We're not connected by being divisive. We're not connected by being hateful. We're not connected by cryptic, two-sentence communications."
Both Williams and Fink said they want to continue performing and attending events at the Kennedy Center, but they would like it to be a place that's inclusive and welcoming to all.
This story was edited for broadcast by Ciera Crawford and Jennifer Vanasco and edited for digital by Jennifer Vanasco.
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