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The Kennedy Center is disputing reports that Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz has withdrawn as host of the Washington National Opera Gala, saying he was never booked for the May 16th event — even though tickets listing Schwartz’s name were available on the Kennedy Center’s website through Friday afternoon.
In an email to Newsday, Schwartz said the Kennedy Center “no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be.” He added, “There’s no way I would set foot in it now.”
However, the Kennedy Center disputes that Schwartz was ever booked for the event by current leadership. “Stephen Schwartz was never discussed nor confirmed and never had a contract under current Trump Kennedy Center leadership,” Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
Kennedy Center president Ric Grenell went further in dismissing the reports, calling them “bogus” in a social media post. “He was never signed, and I’ve never had a single conversation about him since arriving,” Grenell wrote. “He himself said last February he hadn’t heard anything
It remains unclear why tickets for the Washington National Opera Gala — listing Schwartz as host — were available on the Kennedy Center’s website until around 3:00 p.m. local time on Friday. His name has since been removed.
Whether or not Schwartz was ever booked at the Kennedy Center — and therefore did or didn’t actually cancel a scheduled appearance — plenty of other artists have done so: Rhiannon Giddens, Ben Folds, Renée Fleming, a touring production of Hamilton, Christmas act Chuck Redd, and New Year’s eve performers The Cookers are among the numerous acts who’ve canceled appearances at the Kennedy Center in light of Trump’s takeover.
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