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marmar

(80,093 posts)
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 10:23 AM Apr 23

The Bulwark: BOMBSHELL: The Kennedy Center Isn't Closed For "Renovations"--It's Bankrupt!




Apr 22, 2026 Bulwark Takes

Sonny Bunch speaks with whistleblower Josef Palermo, who saw the collapse of the Kennedy Center from the inside. The Kennedy Center president Ric Grenell and the Trump administration said the shutdown was about renovations. But Palermo says the real story is financial collapse, political interference, and a dramatic shift away from the institution’s mission. From six-figure ticket markups to a fundraising pitch delivered during an October 7 memorial, Palermo lays out how things went wrong and how fast it happened.


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The Bulwark: BOMBSHELL: The Kennedy Center Isn't Closed For "Renovations"--It's Bankrupt! (Original Post) marmar Apr 23 OP
Oh for pete's sake.............. Lovie777 Apr 23 #1
I cant believe Trump would bankrupt something Johonny Apr 23 #2
Hard not to. calimary Apr 23 #9
Like casinos owned by a certain person, we all know? Omnipresent Apr 23 #3
Done intentionally then, displacedvermoter Apr 23 #4
And why would that be, you ask? Jilly_in_VA Apr 23 #5
Ballroom ring a bell? n/t aggiesal Apr 23 #16
The Atlantic - What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center progressoid Apr 23 #6
"...terminated while conducting a tour for donors." Ilsa Apr 23 #26
Archival copy of this excellent piece in The Atlantic erronis Apr 23 #30
Thank you. I looked earlier and couldn't find it. progressoid Apr 23 #31
"Richard Grenell, told me to "get rid of everything" in the permanent collection because we needed all new art for the ratchiweenie Apr 23 #7
Figured - that's what trump does Figarosmom Apr 23 #8
Not surprised BeneteauBum Apr 23 #10
Trump keeps getting better and better at breaking things. xuplate Apr 23 #11
Practice makes perfect! crosinski Apr 23 #25
I am not totally convinced this wasn't the intention from the start Bev54 Apr 23 #12
What is this? His 7th bankruptcy??? liberalla Apr 23 #13
Like most Donald-related revelations... Soul_of_Wit Apr 23 #14
Once Mierda47's name was added, this was predictable ... aggiesal Apr 23 #15
EM47TGTM is the new ETTD. sop Apr 23 #18
I got that !!! ... aggiesal Apr 23 #19
As planned. Lars39 Apr 23 #17
The Kennedy Center sits on prime riverfront land, someone wants to acquire it cheap to build a new Trump Tower. sop Apr 23 #20
He put his name on it, so of course it turned to shit JoseBalow Apr 23 #21
Tom Steyer's ads are saying how he is so rich, BidenRocks Apr 23 #22
Rick Jackson, a rags-to-riches billionaire in Georgia, Ilsa Apr 23 #27
The looting of America pfitz59 Apr 23 #23
EVERYTHING he touches,,,,,,,, Pas-de-Calais Apr 23 #24
Bankruptcy,... that's trDUMPee's forte. He is an many times over expert and considered a candidate of excellence in,.. magicarpet Apr 23 #28
This is so disgusting! peggysue2 Apr 23 #29

Johonny

(26,631 posts)
2. I cant believe Trump would bankrupt something
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 10:27 AM
Apr 23

Last edited Thu Apr 23, 2026, 11:39 AM - Edit history (1)

He has no track record of this... right?

Hate the Americans that voted for this idiot.

displacedvermoter

(5,011 posts)
4. Done intentionally then,
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 10:39 AM
Apr 23

as it obviously didn't have to happen. I imagine they knew that as soon as he slapped his name on it, donations and attendance would die, triggering fiscal disaster.

Jilly_in_VA

(14,624 posts)
5. And why would that be, you ask?
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 10:57 AM
Apr 23

Obviously Shitler took all the $$ for some other pet project, either rounding up immigrants or making war on someone who didn't start anything. You choose.

progressoid

(53,390 posts)
6. The Atlantic - What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 11:22 AM
Apr 23

On the day I was laid off from the Kennedy Center, I felt a little like Dolley Madison saving the Stuart portrait of Washington before the British sacked the capital. I was the staffer in charge of the artworks in the building. A crucial difference is that my institution, unlike the White House in 1814, had been on fire for months.

About a year elapsed between the moment President Trump took over the Kennedy Center in early 2025 and his declaration this past February that he’d decided to shut down the nation’s cultural center for two years. In between, we had seen artist cancellations, shrinking audiences, firings of old staffers and influxes of new ones—a lot of drama, just not onstage. The date Trump announced for the closure was July 4, the country’s 250th birthday, an event that I had been hired to help commemorate as the institution’s first curator of visual arts and special programming.

Though staffers had been assured that we’d have our jobs until July, I was one of dozens of people let go on March 26. From the moment I received a calendar invitation for a meeting with human resources, I knew I had to scramble. Shortly after Trump’s shutdown announcement, the center’s president, Richard Grenell, told me to “get rid of everything” in the permanent collection because we needed all new art for the reopening. Although I had slow-walked this demand for several weeks by pretending I was waiting on another colleague for updates, I now had only two hours to tie up loose ends. I hurriedly emailed the families of the late maestro Julius Rudel, the center’s first artistic director, whose bust sits outside the Opera House, and of the late Nehemia Azaz, whose wood-carved installation depicting 43 instruments mentioned in the Jewish Bible covers a wall in the historic Israeli Lounge. They had been anxious about the coming closure, and I told them I would no longer be able to give them updates about the artworks. (A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center says that it is taking inventory of all artwork as part of preparations for the closure.) I was told to pack up my stuff that day, although at least my exit was more dignified than that of a colleague from the development office, who, a couple of months earlier, had been terminated while conducting a tour for donors.

...https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/04/inside-kennedy-center-shutdown-drama/686801/

Ilsa

(64,581 posts)
26. "...terminated while conducting a tour for donors."
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 01:27 PM
Apr 23

That must be like a coloratura soprano getting the hook while singing Mozart's Queen of the Night aria. It looks bad and sounds worse, but the ones doing the firing are the philistines. Let's face it: Trump's taste (and by extension his friends') is all in his mouth. He is hostile towards nature, natural beauty, the arts, Science, intellect, etc.

ratchiweenie

(8,240 posts)
7. "Richard Grenell, told me to "get rid of everything" in the permanent collection because we needed all new art for the
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 11:37 AM
Apr 23

reopening."

How much of that art being retired will end up in the private homes of these crooks. On permanent loan.

Bev54

(13,522 posts)
12. I am not totally convinced this wasn't the intention from the start
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 12:16 PM
Apr 23

It was named after a very popular Democratic President and would own the libs if they destroyed it.

Soul_of_Wit

(146 posts)
14. Like most Donald-related revelations...
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 12:30 PM
Apr 23

...my reaction is always, "Didn't we know this x months ago?"

aggiesal

(10,917 posts)
15. Once Mierda47's name was added, this was predictable ...
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 12:49 PM
Apr 23

Everything Mierda47 touches goes to mierda.

sop

(19,354 posts)
20. The Kennedy Center sits on prime riverfront land, someone wants to acquire it cheap to build a new Trump Tower.
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 01:00 PM
Apr 23

JoseBalow

(9,744 posts)
21. He put his name on it, so of course it turned to shit
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 01:09 PM
Apr 23
Everything drumpf touches turns to shit.

BidenRocks

(3,502 posts)
22. Tom Steyer's ads are saying how he is so rich,
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 01:11 PM
Apr 23

he doesn't need special interest money and is above corruption.

Where in the hell have we heard that before?

Xavier Becerra for Gov.
He even looks the part of a wise statesman!

Ilsa

(64,581 posts)
27. Rick Jackson, a rags-to-riches billionaire in Georgia,
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 01:36 PM
Apr 23

is running for governor. He is in the primary with trump-supported Doug Jones and attorney/football coach Derek Dooley. Jackson likes comparing himself to Felon4547 ("I'm so rich&quot and says the dumbest "anti-woke" crap in his ads.

pfitz59

(12,947 posts)
23. The looting of America
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 01:13 PM
Apr 23

by a consortium of thieves! They cannot stand the word 'public', and want to privatize everything.

magicarpet

(19,425 posts)
28. Bankruptcy,... that's trDUMPee's forte. He is an many times over expert and considered a candidate of excellence in,..
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 02:12 PM
Apr 23

..... the practice of grind it into the ground business bankruptcies.

The meager ticket sales have taken a major plunged at the JFK performing center since djt stuck his nose in the door. The ticket sales at the front door booth have not been sufficient enough to pay for the for the burning of a lone 15watt incandescent light bulb. Let alone the monies needed for a serious theater production or professional show.

Maybe Kid Rock can come give a five year long concert series to help keep the JFK Center afloat ? Cage fighting, kick boxing, and wrestling that causes massive traumatic brain injuries are also able to draw huge audiences. Very enjoying and entertaining If you are the Neanderthal caveman sort. Also to, Monkey grinders are also very entertaining, they put on a wonderful show. Just a few ideas to help out.


?si=mO1nMKj_z5lVZJ2y

peggysue2

(12,602 posts)
29. This is so disgusting!
Thu Apr 23, 2026, 04:52 PM
Apr 23

To take a beloved American institution dedicated to the arts and the memory of JFK, purposely run it into the ground through gross malfeasance and grift and then conceal the nature of its closure is beyond the pale. And criminal.

Trump and his Flying Monkey Brigade belong behind bars, the electrified sort, to remind them of the animals they've become.

Another flaming example of ETTD!

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