PBS News Hour

Ex-Kennedy Center staffer alleges chaos and cronyism under Trump leadership

Apr 17, 2026 6:30 PM EDT
By — Geoff Bennett
By — Azhar Merchant

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Unless courts intervene, the Kennedy Center will shut down this July for two years, as part of a roughly $250 million renovation. In the lead-up, there’s been a wave of layoffs and a controversial rebranding by President Trump’s allies. Josef Palermo was among those laid off and wrote “What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center” for The Atlantic. Palermo joined Geoff Bennett to discuss more.

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Geoff Bennett:

Unless the courts intervene, the Kennedy Center for the performing arts will shut down this July for two years as part of a roughly $250 million renovation.

In the lead-up, there's been a wave of layoffs and a controversial rebranding under President Trump's allies. But the questions are mounting. Is a full shutdown really necessary? Were artists critical of Trump pushed aside? And did the center's finances deteriorate after new leadership took over?

Now Josef Palermo, an artist and arts organizer who served for the past 10 months as the center's first curator of visual arts, is speaking out. He was among those laid off and has written a firsthand account in "The Atlantic" titled "What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center."

And he joins us now.

Thank you for being here.

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