Film and Broadway veteran Harvey Fierstein alleged that his shows have been “banned” from the Kennedy Center since President Donald Trump’s “takeover” of the storied performing arts venue.
Fierstein, who has won four Tonys for his stage work in addition to appearing in numerous movies and shows, has been in several shows performed at the Kennedy Center.
In January, Trump fired members of the center’s Board of Trustees and announced he had been elected board chair by his new handpicked board. Fierstein claimed that, as a consequence, some of his shows are no longer welcome.
“A few folks have written to ask how I feel about Trump’s takeover of The Kennedy Center. How do you think I feel?” Fierstein wrote on Instagram. “The shows I’ve written are now banned from being performed in our premiere American theater. Those shows, most of which have been performed there in the past, include, KINKY BOOTS, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, TORCH SONG TRILOGY, HAIRSPRAY, SAFE SEX, CASA VALENTINA, SPOOKHOUSE, A CATERED AFFAIR, THE SISSY DUCKLING, BELLA BELLA and more.”
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“I have been in the struggle for our civil rights for more than 50 years only to watch them snatched away by a man who actually couldn’t care less,” Fierstein continued. “He does this stuff only to placate the religious right so they’ll look the other way as he savages our political system for his own glorification.”
Later in the post, Fierstein claimed Trump was attacking free speech.
“He attacks free speech,” Fierstein said. “He attacks the free press. He attacks America’s allies. His only allegiance is to himself – the golden calf. My fellow Americans I warn you – this is NOT how it begins. This is how freedom ENDS! Trump may have declared ‘woke’ as dead in America. We must prove him wrong. WAKE THE HELL UP!!!!!”
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Kennedy Center interim Executive Director Richard Grenell disputed Fierstein’s allegation on X, calling it fiction.
“This is a total lie,” Grenell wrote. “Whoever told you this (because you obviously didn’t do your own research) should be fired from your team for purposefully making you look foolish.”
He also noted that he, too, has been in the decades-long fight for equality and proudly served as the first openly gay U.S. Cabinet official during the first Trump administration, as the acting Director of National Intelligence.
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Several artists have distanced themselves from the Kennedy Center following Trump’s move. Actress Issa Rae canceled her shows at the center, while other celebrities like “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes and musician Ben Folds quit their positions at the venue.
The producers of Broadway’s “Hamilton” pulled out of a planned run there next year.
“Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” producer Jeffrey Seller said earlier this month.
Grenell has previously said that his goal is to make the theater “prosperous” again and to welcome everyone.
“The Kennedy Center is the premier arts institution in the United States,” Grenell told Fox News Digital last week. “It deserves to have the public’s full support and a balance sheet that is solid.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Fierstein for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News’ Gabriel Hays, Brie Stimson and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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