While the White House has assured Americans that things are going swell at the recently re-named John F. Kennedy Center in for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the growing list of bookings falling off the beloved arts venue’s performance roster tells a slightly different tale.
On Thursday (Jan. 1), Oscar-winning Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin) told Newsday that he’s adding his name to that expanding roster or refuseniks in protest of what he said was the once apolitical arts venue’s increasingly partisan slant.
“It no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be,” Schwartz told Newsday of what he said is the Kennedy Center’s divisive new image in an email sent by his assistant. “There’s no way I would set foot in it now.” Schwartz was slated to host the Washington National Opera Gala at the Kennedy Center on May 16.
“Stephen Schwartz was never discussed nor confirmed and never had a contract by current Trump Kennedy Center leadership,” said Kennedy Center vice president of public relations Roma Daravi in a statement. “Schwartz said himself that he ‘heard nothing about it since February 2025…assumed it’s no longer happening.’ It is completely false to report otherwise.”
Schwartz is the latest artist to distance themselves from the Kennedy Center in the wake of Trump’s takeover, which has included his revamp of the previously bipartisan venue’s board to include a cadre of MAGA loyalists, who named Trump chairman of the organization last year; in a break with tradition, Trump became the first sitting president to host the Kennedy Center Honors event in December.
“Last year, way before the change of Board and name of the Kennedy Center, I was invited by [director] Francesca Zambello to be part of a Washington National Opera event on May 16, 2026,” Schwartz, 77, wrote in his email. “But I’ve heard nothing about it since February 2025, so I have assumed it’s no longer happening. I can’t imagine Francesca continuing under the current circumstances. If it is happening, of course I will not be part of it.”
At press time a spokesperson for the Kennedy Center had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on Schwartz’s announcement. While Trump has had his name added to the exterior of the building, there remains a legal question over whether he broke a federal law that prohibits the board of trustees of the Center from adding another person’s name to the building. Congress passed a law authorizing the construction of the national cultural center in honor of the late president a year after his assassination in 1963 and, by law, an act of Congress is needed to make any name change.
The Kennedy Center has been roiled by turmoil over the past year since Trump’s takeover of the organization, which quickly led to a rash of cancellations by the likes of Issa Rae, Rhiannon Giddens, Low Cut Connie and the team behind Hamilton, as well as Ben Folds, Shonda Rimes and Renee Fleming stepping down from advisory roles at the center.
Another round of call-offs have taken place over the past few weeks, with musician Wayne Tucker telling Newsday that this band, the Bad Mothas, will not be performing at the Kennedy Center as planned on Jan. 22. In addition, jazz drummer Chuck Redd cancelled a planned Christmas Eve jazz show, all-star jazz ensemble the Cookers pulled out of a New Year’s eve show and New York dance troupe Doug Varone and Dancers said earlier this week that they are scotching an April performance.
The Center’s interim executive director, Richard Grenell, has threatened to file a lawsuit against Redd, demanding $1 million in damages for the cancelled show. “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” Grenell said in a statement. “Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs. Boycotting the Arts to show you support the Arts is a form of derangement syndrome.”
While the roster of shows for 2026 at the Kennedy Center continues to take hits, the White House was in pushback mode last week over reports that the Dec. 23 Trump-hosted broadcast of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors hit all-time ratings lows after the president promised “the highest-rated show” in the institution’s history.
“Comparing this year’s broadcast ratings to prior years is a classic apples-to-oranges comparison and evidence of far-left bias,” Roma Daravi, vp of public relations for the Kennedy Center, said in a statement. “The program performed extremely well across key demographics and platforms, despite industry and timing disadvantages, including a Tuesday air date two days before Christmas.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nielsen Live + Same Day Panel + Big Data reported the Kennedy Center Honors special averaged 4.1 million viewers, a 26% drop in viewership year-on-year for the show honoring KISS, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and Broadway legend Michael Crawford.
