Another day, another high-profile American artist declining to associate themselves with what was, until very recently, one of the most prestigious artistic institutions in the country: Deadline reports that Wicked‘s Stephen Schwartz has just publicly pulled out of an event he was scheduled to host at what the current White House would really like people to start calling The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, saying that any appearance at the current incarnation of the center would constitute an “ideological statement” that he’s not inclined to make.
In the interest of total factual accuracy, it’s worth noting that Schwartz was booked for the gig—billed as the Washington National Opera Gala—more than a year ago, before Donald Trump had even gotten around to ousting the Kennedy Center’s previous board and installing his own cronies in their place, and that he hadn’t heard anything about the event since February 2025. That being said, Deadline also reports that, up until earlier today, Schwartz’s picture was still prominently posted on the ticketing page for the event (apparently still scheduled for May 16) despite the administration giving a statement that “Stephen Schwartz was never discussed nor confirmed and never had a contract by current Trump Kennedy Center leadership.”
Schwartz, for his part, makes his opposition to participating with the Kennedy Center pretty blatant, saying in a statement that, “I was part of the original event that opened the Kennedy Center, the Bernstein Mass. The Kennedy Center was founded to be an apolitical home for artists of all nationalities and all ideologies. It is no longer apolitical, and appearing there has become an ideological statement. As long as that remains the case, I will not appear there.” Schwartz is just the latest of many American artists who’ve declined to appear at the Kennedy Center since Trump’s takeover, including reports that annual holiday concerts were canceled a few weeks ago as a direct response to the administration’s ongoing efforts to Frankenstein Trump’s name onto the building’s façade.
