A Washington-based musician innocently reached out to the Kennedy Center’s interim director with fairly reasonable questions about the center’s future. However, she was shut down by the director, who called her “gullible” and failed to answer her concerns directly.
Yasmin William is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and film composer who has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts several times in the past few years. Following Trump’s directives on DEI policies, the singer and many other people associated with the center had questions.
As such, she contacted Richard Grenell, appointed by President Donald Trump as the center’s interim director, to address her concerns. In William’s initial email, she pointed out that many board members had been removed, the center’s social impact team had been dissolved, and certain shows were canceled. She also added that the series of events had prompted negative reactions from her musical community.
“Does the President actually care about artists canceling shows at the Kennedy Center? What, if anything, has changed about the Kennedy Center regarding hiring practices, performance booking, and staffing?” William asked.
In Grenell’s reply, he wrote, “Let me ask you this question: would you play for Republicans or would you boycott if Republicans came to your show?”
In William’s subsequent email, she told the director she had no problem playing for Republicans and tried to steer the conversation back to the original topic. Instead, Grenell followed up with an email that read:
“Yes. Every single person who canceled a show did so because they couldn’t be in the presence of Republicans. We didn’t fire a single show. We don’t cancel a single show. You shouldn’t believe what you read in the newspapers who[sic] exists to hate Republicans. Read more. Don’t swallow what the media tells you. Don’t be gullible.”
In her follow-up emails, the singer still attempted to get an answer regarding changes in the center’s hiring practices and performance booking, but the director replied:
“Let me remind. YOU reached out to me unsolicited and accused me of being an intolerant. Don’t be a victim now. You asked.”
Seeing that she was getting nowhere with Grenell, William implored him to re-read her original email to understand what she was asking. After William shared the email thread on Instagram, her post went viral, and several users reacted to it.
One wrote: “This is remarkably unhinged, and coming from a leading official at an institution we’re supposed to respect and admire? This is so unbelievably unprofessional??”
One user referred to the director as someone who has the emotional regulation of a “junior high schooler,” and another likened him to an adult with the communication skills of a grumpy toddler.
William’s interaction with Grenell follows several changes implemented by Trump at the center. In February, the president named himself chairman of the center’s board of trustees. He also removed Deborah Rutter as president and replaced 18 board members with his close associates.
