Despite traditionally being regarded as one of America's most storied cultural icons, the Kennedy Center has had significant difficulty filling seats ever since President Donald Trump took over the vaunted institution earlier this year.
The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that Trump advisor Richard Grenell – his first-term acting Director of National Intelligence who is now president and executive director of the Kennedy Center – erupted after a report by the Athletic (which is owned by the New York Times) showed how the facility's ticket sales have been lagging for months. The report noted that the Kennedy Center allowed FIFA (which organizes the quadrennial World Cup) to rent its concert hall for a $0 fee.
In a lengthy post to his official X account, Grenell tore into both the outlet's reporters and former Kennedy Center dance director Jane Raleigh, who confided to the outlet that subscription return rates had seen a 50 percent drop. He also refuted the report by saying FIFA was "paying the Kennedy Center more than $7 million to do their world-wide event FIFA draw" through various "sponsorship opportunities" and a $2.4 million donation.
"The bloggers quoted a failed dance programmer who wasn’t able to pay for the ideas she came up with at the KC - and who traveled the world watching other dance programs - expecting her salary and travel expenses to still be paid by someone," Grenell wrote. "We fired her for being unable to lead with fiscal responsibility."
"What these far left radical reporters never grasp is how responsible leaders must pay the bills," he added.
The Athletic report observed that Trump "ousted 19 members of the Center’s previously bipartisan board of trustees and announced he would take over as chairman," with a goal of "purging the Center of 'woke' programming." Longtime patron Susannah Joyner told the publication that Trump's imprint on the Kennedy Center has been "tragic," and that the administration had politicized a "sacred" place.
"It’s a cultural center, not a business center," Joyner said of the FIFA agreement.
Click here to read the Beast's full report (subscription required).