This is truly comical, the level of unawarness that you are about to read about. Ric Grenell, who runs the everyday activities at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center, is accusing a jazz musician of a “political stunt” by cancelling a New Year’s Eve jazz concert at the Center. Grenell is oblivious to the fact that the musician is reacting to Donald Trump’s political stunt of renaming the Center after himself. It is good for me but not for thee, something along those lines?Washington Post:
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell said in his letter to Redd, a copy of which the center shared Friday with The Washington Post.
What “extraordinary efforts to save?” Trump has dragged down the Center into the ground. And this will drive him nuts: the televised Kennedy Center Awards got bargain basement ratings last week. You know Donald. Ratings are his life’s blood, just like a vampire. No ratings, he’s got to go prey on somebody else to get ratings.
According to TVInsider: Citing preliminary Nielsen data, Programming Insider reported the Kennedy Center Honors special drew its “smallest audience ever” with an average of 2.65 million viewers, representing a 35% decrease from last year’s then-record-low 4.1 million viewers. That stat represents “a staggering drop for one of broadcast TV’s most traditionally reliable specials,” Programming Insider added.
The fact that Trump made himself the star of the special almost certainly hurt the ratings.
The lack of A-list star power also didn’t inspire people to tune in. The honorees included George Strait, KISS, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, and Sylvester Stallone.
None of the honorees Trump picked have been at the peak of their popularity since the 1970s and 80s.
Trump tried to get Tom Cruise, but he turned them down, according to politicususa.
Maybe Grenell can threaten to sue Tom Cruise for a million bucks, ya think? And just parse that for a moment, that Tom Cruise would turn down a Kennedy Center recognition just because of this monkey business of Trump’s? Wow.
If people don’t want to perform, or even show up for honors, is it right to compel them, legally or through intimidation? It seems to go against the very grain of artistic expression to compel and demand that people show up against their will and their good judgement.
Let’s see where the *lawsuit* goes. Trump is known for suing everybody and a great many of the suits are lost or thrown out of court or settled. I’ll be interested to see if this goes anywhere. God help performing artists if it does.
“Ric Grenell, who runs the everyday activities at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center,”
Ursula, how freaking dare you write that line.
HOW!
FREAKING!
DARE!
YOU!
Either insert the term “(illegally)” before “renamed” or DELETE THE EVIL ONE’S NAME FROM THE FACILITY’S NAME. By YOUR using it as is, you have tacitly decided to abide by Drumpf’s ILLEGAL move.
As I read elsewhere, the fact that Drumpf’s lackeys managed to JUST HAPPEN to have the necessary letters available so quickly to install after the Board’s “unanimous” decision (a decision which they had NO authority to do in the first place) to rename the facility seems to suggest the Board’s “decision” had already been decided some time ago because USUALLY renaming a building–even if it’s just to add something to the existing lettering–takes several weeks between the decision and the actual addition. Yet, Drumpf’s lackeys had the letters all ready to install.
That still does not give you the license to accept Drumpf’s illegal action and refer to that majestic memorial to a true presidential legend with that VILE OFFENSIVE INSULT moniker. Unless we can expect to see you use “Gulf of America” and the “Department of War” as well in future articles involving either of those subjects.