Boycott Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center

Dear Friends,

Artists have always been a beacon of humanity, compassion, resistance, and truth. As actors, musicians, directors, and theatre producers, we are not just entertainers; we are storytellers, culture-makers, and, when necessary, fighters. Now is one of those moments when we must fight.

With Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, we are faced with a stark and urgent choice: either lend our talents and credibility to an institution now under the control of someone who has relentlessly denigrated and attacked our community, or stand firm in our values and refuse to participate in this erasure of artistic integrity.

Trump has decimated arts funding, mocked artists, and waged war on the very principles that define our work: empathy, inclusion, and honesty. Now, he seeks to use the Kennedy Center, one of our nation’s most prestigious cultural institutions, as a prop for his authoritarian agenda. We cannot let that happen.

Our industry has little political capital in this fight. We don’t have the lobbying power of Wall Street or Big Oil. What we do have is our collective influence, our presence, and our refusal to legitimize those who wish to destroy what we stand for. This is one of the few times we can flex that capital in a meaningful way.

That is why we are calling on you to sign the pledge to boycott the Kennedy Center for as long as it remains under Trump’s control. Do not perform there. Do not direct there. Do not produce there. Do not buy tickets. Do not give him the legitimacy of your artistry. Break your contracts. Weather the fall-out. Stand tall. 

We know this is a difficult decision, but history will remember who stood up when it mattered. Our silence, our absence, and our refusal to participate will send a message.

Join us. Sign the pledge. Let’s make it clear that the arts are not for sale.