Thursday, January 08, 2026
Nearly 100K Sign Petition to Suspend Kennedy Center Funding
www.ticketnews.com: A petition organized by the advocacy group Qommittee in partnership with MoveOn has garnered nearly 100,000 signatures calling on major donors to suspend funding for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts until artistic independence is restored, according to the petition’s online tally.
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3 comments:
Well I think this petition is much needed in the current stage of the Kennedy Center. We have seen how the Trump administration has worked to censor the arts both at the Kennedy Center as well as in other areas of entertainment including news broadcasting. I would argue that the founding principle of America and the reason the Americas were initially colonized was to gain freedom of speech during a monarchy. The arts have been and will always be a valuable form of expression that reflects and challenges the status quo. The Trump administration’s current attack on the arts speaks volumes to how they are worried about losing their power. Only a political party that knows they are losing their grasp on their constituents would try so hard to censor the arts. I think this passage from the actual petition says it best. “Americans don't have to agree on everything, but we should be able to speak our minds and perform our art without bans, retaliation, or intimidation.” Attack on art is a direct attack on free speech and free expression and free thought and we need to continue to fight back against this current administration.
I’m really glad that significant pushback is mounting to the current decline of the Kennedy Center. It seemed for a while that other than a flurry of withdrawals from talent, the Trump administration wasn’t seeing a ton of resistance from the general public. Ticket data isn’t public, but I imagine that was also in decline over the past year. A Senate investigation, alongside a petition, are much more significant steps. The petition, targeting the donors, also seeks to hit the Kennedy Center where it hurts: its funding. Without the donors, the Kennedy Center would not be able to operate at the same level it has for decades, as most of the funding comes from donors, not the federal government. I don’t think that this will necessarily stop the Trump administration, however. They will likely double down and just dramatically reduce the performances, rather than making any meaningful changes. The silver lining in this is perhaps that the donors who would usually have donated to the Kennedy Center can instead redirect their funds elsewhere around Washington DC and the United States, allowing the Kennedy Center’s old programming to live on elsewhere in the country.
I hate to say… I fear that a mound of signatures will not be enough to stop Kennedy Center donors if it’s under this crazy mismanagement right now. I really wish a group of leftists could do more than sign a petition. This is the time to get angry, and if all we can manage collectively is saying we agree well clearly our leadership does not care. Our careers are on the line, and for most people the entertainment industry is carried by, a lot more than a career. Our industry has always been a safe space for those who desperately need their story told, and now more than ever is that vital. Due to the commercialization of our industry, we become less and less of a story telling community and more of a marketing campaign. As the creators we need to be very aware of the places we work and productions we support, polarized media is everywhere. At the bare minimum, let's do our due diligence to try to keep live entertainment something real.
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