The president has completely changed how the Kennedy Center operates to make it promote conservative values. And one change in particular is drawing attention from both staff and supporters of the storied venue.

Early in his term, the president named himself as the chair of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees after he removed the other members. He named loyal gay staffer Ric Grenell as the head of the Kennedy Center and promised  “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA.”

Related

Trump promised “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS” at Kennedy Center. Their new season is full of drag.
At least four plays at the Kennedy Center will feature actors in drag just after Trump promised that drag at the Kennedy Center “WILL STOP.”

But the Wall Street Journal reports that the changes have cut deep. About 40 employees have been fired or laid off, and another 50 quit. The remaining staff have been trying to find programming to fill the center’s eight stages with shows that the new directors will approve of, including more Christian artists. There’s even a new position for a director of faith-based programming, and Grenell reportedly personally requested a screening of a Christian cartoon at the center.

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

There’s even a prayer wall at the Kennedy Center now where people can post written prayers for the nation, a wall sponsored by the Museum of the Bible and Moxie Pest Control, whose founder is a Republican.

But one thing in particular shocked even the remaining staff. During one May meeting, Lisa Dale, the center’s new head of development, asked staff members to join her in prayer. One person who was there told The Wall Street Journal that this elicited an “audible gasp from some staff members” and that she then dropped her request for a workplace prayer session. She also told people at that meeting that insubordination would be grounds for dismissal.

Dale herself isn’t commenting on the matter.

The Kennedy Center hosts about 2,000 events per year and is a major supporter of the arts in D.C. Usually, it stays out of the political fray, but it has been transformed into the cultural arm of the MAGA movement, which probably explains its declining ticket sales. Subscriptions sales for the coming season of venue programming are down by roughly 36% overall compared with last year.

Single-ticket sales were down roughly 50% in April and May, compared with the same period in 2024, according to the data.

Subscriptions for theater performances took the biggest hit, with sales down a whopping 82%.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.