Saturday, January 17, 2026

This Week in Schadenfreude: Performers Keep Opting Out

This Week in Schadenfreude: Kennedy Center Performers Keep Opting Out It's been long enough since we wrote a "schadenfreude" (excepting the bonus schadenfreude earlier this week) that we did not realize that the last one was ALSO about the Kennedy Center. We guess that institution has become a vergence in the schadenfreude force.

Posted by A_Friend at 04:59 PM | 8 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

snip ...

Readers will recall, of course, that Donald Trump and his acolytes, in complete contravention of very specific statutes, managed to "rename" the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." This was a "unanimous" decision of the board, a unanimity achieved by disenfranchising all 23 ex officio board members, and muting their microphones when they tried to speak. Because the change has no basis in law, the new name will last until approximately January 20, 2029, at 12:01 p.m. And it might not last that long, because members of the Kennedy family have already sued.

This change has naturally put the Kennedy Center right at the forefront of the culture wars. That was the intent of Trump, and of his handpicked director-lackey, Richard Grenell. Trump himself said that he would decide what shows were appropriate, and that there would be no more drag shows or LGBTQ-positive programming. Not long thereafter, the new children's musical Finn was canceled by Grenell. Finn is described, by its producers, as "Finn can't shake the feeling that he's different from the other sharks. Deep inside, he discovers a colorful fish inside him"a part of himself that longs to sparkle, sing, and dance. As Finn embarks on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and adventure, he finds the courage to be himself!"

OK, so it's an allegory for being gay (and, in case you missed the message, in the poster for the show, Finn is rainbow-colored and fabulous). But even allegorically gay is too gay for Grenell, despite the fact that Grenell himself is gay. So, no show. It's really interesting where this administration does, and does not, see "gay." Remember this is a president who loves Phantom of the Opera and "YMCA."

#1 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-17 05:00 PM

snip ...

The Trump administration also canceled a pride concert scheduled for May, to be headlined by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington. Because, as everyone knows, singing for you is how they recruit new gay people. It's like the sirens from Greek mythology, except that instead of ending with a violent death, it ends with brunch.

And it's not entirely LGBTQ material, either. Grenell also canceled a planned run of Eureka Day, a dramedy about vaccination that just had a successful run on Broadway. Presumably, that cancellation was a personal favor to Robert Kennedy Jr.

But if you're going to make the Kennedy Center a part of the culture wars, then it goes both ways. You don't just get to cancel the shows and artists you don't like; you have to be prepared to be canceled on by the shows and artists who don't like you. Heck, you also have to be prepared to be canceled on by the shows and artists whose FANS don't like you, since those fans are likely to take a performance at the so-called Trump-Kennedy Center as an endorsement of Trump in general, and of his pi**ing on the legacy of Jack Kennedy in particular.

The first to cancel, as we wrote about in the previous Kennedy Center schadenfreude item, was jazz musician Chuck Redd, who called off his annual Christmas Eve jazz concert. Grenell reacted with outrage, and sent a sharply worded letter to Redd promising a lawsuit. We have to assume this was performative outrage. Trump and Grenell had to know this was coming, right? They couldn't really be that dense, could they?

#2 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-17 05:01 PM

Snip ...

The Trump administration also canceled a pride concert scheduled for May, to be headlined by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington. Because, as everyone knows, singing for you is how they recruit new gay people. It's like the sirens from Greek mythology, except that instead of ending with a violent death, it ends with brunch.
:-)

#3 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-17 05:19 PM

The Donald J Trump Pavilion of Pedophilia

#4 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-01-17 05:45 PM

If I was fortunate enough to be an artist who gets asked to play at Kennedy Center,

I'd contemplate keeping the gig, but completely change up the set list to be nothing but Americana protest songs.

#5 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-17 05:54 PM

By the way, I did drive down to the Kennedy Center after the name update. The Donald J. Trump part isn't quite right. It looks a tiny bit smaller than the part that say John F. Kennedy. It looks half assed. I hope they did it bad to make him look bad.

#6 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-17 05:56 PM

We all know that the Trump DOJ is going to investigate those performers who opt out of the Kennedy Center.

#7 | Posted by Zed at 2026-01-18 08:49 AM

It looks half assed.

That is so on brand for Donny Doll Hands.

#8 | Posted by Nixon at 2026-01-20 07:10 AM

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