“Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller has released a statement responding to President Trump’s recent takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, announcing that he is canceling the Tony winning musical’s return to the historic venue.
Read the statement in full below:
“Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy. These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of ‘Hamilton’. However, some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such
institution.
The Kennedy Center was founded over 50 years ago with a sincere bipartisan spirit. Indeed, it was founded during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, named after President John F. Kennedy, and opened in 1971 under the administration of Richard M. Nixon. The Kennedy Center was meant to be for all Americans, a place where we could all come together in celebration of the arts. Politics have never affected the presentation of thousands of shows and the display of extraordinary visual arts.
However, in recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed. The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents. This spirit of nonpartisanship ended on February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, and numerous other Kennedy Center board members, as well as the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.
Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center. Therefore, we have cancelled the third engagement of ‘Hamilton’ at the Kennedy Center, originally scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026.
‘Hamilton’ was proudly performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the first Trump administration. We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover.
Our cancellation is also a business decision. ‘Hamilton’ is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of ‘Hamilton’ if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement.’ The actions of the new Chairman of the Board in recent weeks demonstrate that contracts and previous agreements simply cannot be trusted. This is sad, because basic integrity and the rule of law have long been great American principles that help serve as a foundation for our Nation.
I have personally loved the Kennedy Center since touring it as a seventh grader in 1977 along with the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. I watched the first Kennedy Center Honors in 1978. Regardless of the political climate, I have always felt at home at The Kennedy Center, and I am grateful for every person who has spent the last 50 years making it a beacon of nonpartisanship and celebration. But we cannot presently support an institution that has been forced by external forces to betray its mission as a national cultural center that fosters the free expression of art in The United States of America.”
More to come…
