Kennedy Center will be 'prosperous again,' Grenell says | Fox News
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Kennedy Center will be 'prosperous again,' Grenell says
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President Trump in January fired the theater's board of directors and announced he had been elected board chair by his new handpicked board

 By ,  

Published March 14, 2025 7:58pm EDT

     



Kennedy Center director Ric Grenell weighs in on 'Hamilton' cancelling shows at the theater on 'Hannity.'

Kennedy Center interim Director Richard Grenell is developing a "common sense" plan to turn the center’s financials around and make it "prosperous again," as it grapples with $72 million of debt due to past leadership decisions.

"The Kennedy Center is the premier arts institution in the United States," Grenell told Fox News Digital. "It deserves to have the public’s full support and a balance sheet that is solid."

Sources familiar with the Kennedy Center’s current financials told Fox News Digital that it had been "budgeting to lose money."

But Grenell brought in a new chief financial officer, Donna Arduin, who is tasked with improving what she has described as a "dire situation."





"America’s premier institution for the arts deserves better," Arduin said. "The new team has already written a responsible budget that will make us prosperous again."

She added: "We are using common sense."

President Trump in January fired the theater's board of directors and announced he had  by his new handpicked board.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Wall Street Journal in January: "The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke. President Trump and the members of his newly-appointed board are devoted to rebuilding the Kennedy Center into a thriving and highly respected institution where all Americans, and visitors from around the world, can enjoy the arts with respect to America’s great history and traditions."

Some groups who disagreed with the move decided to  at the center.

Producers of  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.



The show was performed at the Kennedy Center during Trump's first term in office.

Grenell told Sean Hannity earlier this month that "everyone is welcome" at the Kennedy Center.

"Look, the reality is, the Kennedy Center is open for business for everyone," Grenell told Hannity. "We just want an arts center that celebrates the arts — we want common-sense art."

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