U.S. President Donald Trump takes a question from the press during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — which is chaired by President Donald Trump and led by a board he personally selected – recently fired one of its most experienced staffers despite her 10-year history with the institution.
The Daily Beast reported Thursday that Sarah Kramer, who was the Kennedy Center's senior director of artistic operations, has been fired as of Wednesday night. The auto-reply to messages sent to her professional email address reads: "Sarah Kramer is no longer an employee of the Kennedy Center."
Kramer was terminated after first starting at the Kennedy Center as an assistant manager for special programming in 2016. She worked her way up the organization's ranks and attained the titles of assistant manager, manager for programming and eventually became senior director of artistic operations. She did not provide a reason for her firing, and the Kennedy Center has not yet responded to requests for comment.
"Sarah is a member of the Programming team, working across both the curatorial and production teams and across all genres," an archived version of her staff bio reads. "Her heart and career started with dance and she aspires to actually put on a pair of tap shoes instead of shuffling around her kitchen with a stray 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo.'"
Kramer's firing comes just one day after another high-profile Kennedy Center hire quit after less than two weeks on the job. Kevin Couch had been hired as senior vice president of artistic programming on January 16, though he resigned from the role just 12 days later. Prior to being hired at the Kennedy Center, Couch ran his branding firm CBC Creative, and previously worked as a manager of various musical acts including 1990's R&B group Color Me Badd.