Five Democrat Senators joined forces with a Hamilton producer to host an LGBTQ Pride-themed concert at the Kennedy Center in protest of the Trump administration on Monday night.
Organized by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), the “Love is Love” concert hosted Democrat Sens. Tammy Baldwin (WI), Jacky Rosen (NV), Brian Schatz (HI), and Elizabeth Warren (MA). Hickenlooper rented the Justice Forum, a small 144-seat theater using a privilege available to members of Congress.
Produced by Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller, the show featured several Broadway performers as well as The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. His participation comes after he and Hamilton co-creator Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a planned 2026 Kennedy Center showcase of the musical in protest of Trump.
Richard Grenell, the president of the Kennedy Center, said in a statement that the show is “being used by political operatives to larp as victims of intolerance in order to get a story in the Times.”
“Earlier this month, Senator Hickenlooper’s staff asked to rent space at the Kennedy Center for what his team billed as a first annual Talent show,” said Grenell. “We were pleased to welcome them to the Kennedy Center in this capacity. We were only later notified by the New York Times that Senator Hickenlooper’s event was instead an invite-only political stunt where, once again, the Kennedy Center was being used by political operatives to larp as victims of intolerance in order to get a story in the Times.”
“No one has been cancelled by the Kennedy Center; we welcome everyone who wants to celebrate the arts, including our compatriots on the other side of the political aisle,” he added. “We especially welcome artists and audience members who come to the Kennedy Center not for partisan political pranks but to experience excellence in the performing arts.”
Grenell also expressed disappointment at Seller for boycotting the Kennedy Center, charging that he and Lin-Manuel Miranda have no tolerance for audience members of different political persuasions.
“I cannot begin to understand what business it is of Mr. Seller or Mr. Miranda how audience members vote or how it could possibly be relevant to the sacred relationship between performers and ticket holders, but they’ve made it clear that they won’t perform for audiences that might contain Americans who disagree with them on matters irrelevant to the arts,” he said.
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