On Wednesday, Virginia musician Yasmin Williams shared a series of “absolutely insane” emails she she received from Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center’s interim president, on Instagram. According to her post, Williams had initially emailed Grenell in hopes of finding out whether it made a difference to President Trump that some artists had canceled shows at the arts center, and whether any changes were coming to its hiring practices, bookings, or staffing.
In Grenell’s first response in the email thread, he wrote: “Let me ask you a question, would you play for Republicans or would you boycott if Republicans came to your show?”
In subsequent emails, Grenell advised Williams not to “be gullible” and “believe what you read in the newspapers who exist to hate republicans.” He also claimed that the Kennedy Center didn’t cancel a single show (oh?), and that “[e]very single person who cancelled a show did so because they couldn’t be in the presence of republicans.”
Grenell also referenced the treatment Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, recently received by crowds at the center, where they were booed while attending a performance. “Who is the intolerant one?” Grenell asked Williams.
He then proceeded to state that the Kennedy Center “has zero in the bank and zero in reserves and has been paying the staff with debt reserve money for the past 8 months.” (Where this debt came from, no one is quite certain; according to The Washington Post, several staffers have disputed the claims of a severe deficit, and the Center made a profit of over $6 million in the fiscal year ending in September 2023.) Grenell claimed that he “cut the DEI bullshit” due to these tight budgeting concerns, writing: “[W]e can’t afford to pay people for fringe and niche programming that the public won’t support.”
Finally, Grenell closed off with the following message: “Let me remind, YOU reached out to me unsolicited and accused me of being an intolerant. Don’t be a victim now. You asked.”
The Kennedy Center has not yet responded to a request for comment. Williams provided a statement to Washingtonian in which she reiterated that she initially sought out Grenell in order to receive direct answers to her questions about the Kennedy Center. “I’m not sure why he chose to react to my email with such hostility, but I think it’s important for people to read this exchange and to note that the Kennedy Center does not currently have good leadership,” she wrote. “It’s also equally important for folks to make their voices heard by sending their own emails to Kennedy Center executives so that, hopefully, positive change can come about.”
Below, find the post from Williams’s Instagram page, which includes screenshots of the email conversation.
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This post has been updated.
