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Hamilton has canceled a run at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, scheduled to kick off this spring in light of the “recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center [that] flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents.”

In a lengthy statement posted to Hamilton’s social media channels on Wednesday, producer Jeffrey Seller acknowledged that, “Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy. These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of Hamilton. However, Seller added, “some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution.”

“The Kennedy Center was founded over 50 years ago with a sincere bipartisan spirit,” Seller continued. “Indeed, it was founded during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, named after President John F. Kennedy, and opened in 1971 under the administration of Richard M. Nixon. The Kennedy Center was meant to be for all Americans, a place where we could all come together in celebration of the arts. Politics have never affected the presentation of thousands of shows and the display of extraordinary visual arts.”

“However, in recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed,” Seller added. “The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents. This spirit of nonpartisanship ended on February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, and numerous other Kennedy Center board members, as well as the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.”

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