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When President Donald Trump hosted the board of the Kennedy Center on the White House on Monday evening, the adviser he chosen to guide the establishment, Ric Grenell, spoke briefly of what he characterised as a “fraud” in the way in which that the funds of the establishment had been beforehand dealt with.
But the one that Grenell changed, Deborah Rutter, in the present day referred to as out what she referred to as a “malicious attempt to distort the facts” about her tenure.
“I stand by my assertion that at the time of my departure, the Kennedy Center was fiscally sound, on
track to balance its budget for the year, and positioned to grow its endowment significantly while
serving as a beacon for free artistic expression and a place where everyone could belong,” Rutter stated in an announcement.
Just weeks into his presidency, Trump eliminated all of the board members who had been appointed by Joe Biden. The Trump-controlled board ousted Rutter, and Trump himself changed the chairman, David Rubenstein. Grenell, a longtime adviser, was named the brand new president.
At the White House dinner on Monday, with figures equivalent to Steve Wynn and Lee Greenwood in attendance, Grenell stated that Trump “is actually saving the Kennedy Center,” whereas calling the deferred upkeep on the complicated “criminal.”
Grenell stated that the brand new CFO of the Kennedy Center, Donna Arduin, went by means of the budgets from 2024 and 2025 and located $26 million in “phantom revenue.”
“It’s criminal,” Grenell stated, including that they’d refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is a member of the board, Grenell famous, and “she heard all the details. “This is unacceptable in America to have a fake revenue of $26 million — fraud on previous donors.”
In her assertion, Rutter, who led the middle for 10 years, stated that in her tenure they “adopted an operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which was approved by the board. That budget served as a blueprint for our operations and programming – standard and responsible practice in arts management. In addition, in line with established management best practices, the Finance, Audit, and Executive Committees of the Board—composed of appointees from President Trump’s first term—had full transparency into all financial transactions and decisions. Financial statements, as well as audit reports, were presented at every board meeting, in fulfillment of the board’s fiduciary responsibilities.”
She additionally stated that they established a reserve fund to cowl potential shortfalls, and that about $10 million was accessible on the time she left in February.
She added that since she left, she has not had entry to the present monetary state of affairs state of affairs “nor as to how changes in management as well as donor and patron behavior is impacting this year’s operating budget.”
Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center was adopted by numerous artists backing out of reveals, together with the producers of Hamilton, which was to run in 2026.
“Perhaps those now in charge are facing significant financial gaps and are seeking to attribute them to past management, which would include the Board of Trustees, some of whom were appointed by President Trump, in his previous term,” Rutter stated.
She additionally invoked a authorized commonplace utilized by public figures in defamation claims. “This malicious attempt to distort the facts, which were consistently, transparently and readily available in professionally audited financial reports, recklessly disregards the truth.”
Trump beforehand visited the Kennedy Center in March and referred to as for upgrading the amenities. He additionally criticized a latest growth of the complicated. As House Republicans search to move a large reconciliation invoice, one funds proposal, reportedly requested by the White House, is for $257 million to renovate the Kennedy Center. Trump has in any other case sought to get rid of funding for main arts and cultural companies, together with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In an announcement to The Washington Post, Rubenstein stated that “with full transparency, the financial reports were reviewed and approved by the Kennedy Center’s audit committee and full board as well as a major accounting firm.”
A Kennedy Center spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The Kennedy Center’s funds in 2024 is about $268 million, per Rubenstein, and $45 million of that comes from a federal appropriation for use for operations and upkeep.
The Kennedy Center’s new administration below Grenell lately introduced its upcoming season, with a line up that features Broadway musicals The Outsiders, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Back to the Future The Musical, Mrs. Doubtfire and Spamalot.
Trump had criticized the Kennedy Center’s previous programming, and on the White House on Monday, chided what he characterised as “rampant political propaganda, DEI and inappropriate shows.”
“They had dance parties for queer and trans youth,” Trump stated, including that they’d “a marxist anti-police performance and they had lesbian-only Shakespeare.”
Grenell stated that “when you pick programs that are popular with the public, they respond. People buy tickets.”
“I like to be challenged by the arts,” Grenell stated. “I like it when somebody can teach me and make me a little bit uncomfortable in a show. But one thing that we are not going to do at the Kennedy Center is inappropriate content for children.”
The Kennedy Center’s lineup for this season, chosen when Rutter and Rubenstein nonetheless led the establishment, additionally was heavy in Broadway reveals and non-controversial fare, together with Legally Blonde: The Musical, The Sound of Music and The twenty fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Another present, Les Misérables, opens subsequent month, Trump is reportedly planning to host a fundraiser tied to the efficiency.