Broadway actress Patti LuPone is igniting backlash today after calling for the complete and utter destruction of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, citing her disgust over changes made under President Donald Trump’s administration. In an interview with The New Yorker, LuPone said the “Trumpified Kennedy Center should get blown up,” repeating the phrase multiple times.
Her remarks come after a February shake-up at the Kennedy Center. Trump removed several board members and appointed himself chairman. He announced plans to steer the institution away from programming such as drag shows allegedly marketed toward children and vowed to restore what he called a “Golden Age” in the American arts. The president also stated he would emphasize classical music, patriotic performances, and reduce reliance on federal funding. (RELATED: Actresses Challenge Hollywood’s Feminism Via Gender Swapping & ‘Reductive’ Tropes)
In a Truth Social post announcing the sweeping reforms, Trump wrote: “The Kennedy Center is an American jewel and must reflect the brightest stars on its stage from all across our nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
The changes have drawn a mixed response. Some welcomed a shift back to traditional values and family-centered programming. Many in the arts community denounced the move, including several performers who pulled out of scheduled events in protest.
In March, Vice President JD Vance was met with a chorus of boos during a National Symphony Orchestra performance. The situation escalated when someone in the audience was caught on video yelling, “Kill that vice!”
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
As for the most recent instance of extremism, Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, condemned LuPone’s remarks as beyond the pale.
“The far left has morphed into violent extremists,” Grenell said in a statement. “This is completely unacceptable — from the same people who claim to be for tolerance and diversity.” (RELATED: ‘Sopranos’ Star Spills Hollywood Secret In Fox News Interview)
A White House spokesperson defended the president’s actions as well, saying Trump is “revitalizing American arts and culture” and restoring the Kennedy Center “to its former greatness.”
Fox News has more on LuPone’s eyebrow-raising remarks to New Yorker writer Michael Schulman:
“She’s even angrier at the rest of the country,” Schulman wrote. “She told me, more than once, that the Trumpified Kennedy Center ‘should get blown up.’”
LuPone also told the outlet that she wished that the Trump administration would “Leave New York alone.” She has been an outspoken critic of Trump over the years.
Ahead of the 2020 election, LuPone said she was considering moving to Ireland if Trump won.
On the Tony Awards red carpet in 2017, she said that she would not perform for Trump if he came to one of her shows, “because I hate the mother—.”
A decorated stage actress with three Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards, LuPone has long used her platform to criticize conservatives. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2006 and has also voiced characters in several Disney productions. Known for her confrontational style, she has publicly berated audience members for mask violations, including a viral incident in 2022 where she told one attendee to “get the f— out” during a post-show Q&A.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
The Kennedy Center, opened in 1971 and designated as the national cultural center, now finds itself at the center of a broader fight over the role of politics in public arts institutions. Whether Trump’s changes signal a permanent shift — or provoke a lasting backlash — remains to be seen.
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And I should care?
No news here, just liberals being their usual kind, gentle, caring selves.
Who actually pays attention to the Hollywood sickos?
Sorry, I would never have paied attention to any rant from Patty LuPone in the first place! This behaviour cemented that opinion and made it clear to the world what kind of radical leftist she is!
Who?
If singing was considered an exposure risk, then putting on a spitting mad rage certainly does. Patti Lupone successfully made herself the center of attention, but I doubt that the theater’s masking requirement constitute scientific respiratory protection.
When people ask “why do you do that?”, and the answer is “because that’s what you DO”, then something is radically wrong. We always need to be questioning our decisions and those of others. If you have no idea why you do something, or why you feel a certain way, then maybe you need to use a little insight into yourself and question your reasoning. This one has no reasoning why she feels that way, except that she is SUPPOSED to feel that way. If people took the time to question why they have a certain attitude, they may just ‘lighten up” and rethink their positions or attitudes. People need to constantly change as everything around them changes. Many of us would like to, but we can’t effectively live in the past, as many of these people do. So, when the Pattis and the Bosses of the world can’t make that change, their resulting actions are causing them to pollute the legacies that they hoped would survive them.
Don’t let the door hit you on the butt on your way out!
Get rid of Lupone and every other anti-American “woke” celebrity who wants drag shows with kids at the Kennedy Center. They’re worthless.
Patti who?
If Trump upsets you so much, leave!
I hate the fact that that freak resurfaced.