“Hamilton” producers cancelled the Tony Award-winning musical’s spring 2026 run at the Kennedy Center Wednesday, citing the politicization of the performing arts center as the primary reason.
Jeff Seller stated that the “spirit of nonpartisanship ended on February 7” when President Donald Trump fired former President Deborah Rutter and named himself as chairman, replacing billionaire donor David Rubenstein.
“Hamilton was proudly performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the first Trump administration,” Seller wrote in a statement to X. “We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover.”
A statement from Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller. pic.twitter.com/yTLlrzFAHW
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) March 5, 2025
“This latest action by Trump means it’s not the Kennedy Center as we knew it,” the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said in a joint interview on Wednesday with Seller. “The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We’re just not going to be part of it.”
Since Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, several artists have canceled performances at the legacy performing arts center, including Issa Rae, rock band Low Cut Connie and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer Rhiannon Giddens.
Executive producer Shonda Rhimes resigned as the center’s treasurer, and opera singer and actress Renee Fleming resigned as artistic advisor, following Trump’s self-appointment.
“The Kennedy Center was meant to be for all Americans, a place where we could all come together in celebration of the arts,” Seller wrote. “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.”
Trump removed several Democratic members of the bipartisan board of directors, filling the board with his loyalists.
Seller went on to note that the decision to cancel “Hamilton’”s third engagement at the center is also an attempt to protect the hundreds of employees, who would be affected should the new Kennedy Center leadership cancel the production for elevating what Trump could perceive as “woke culture.”
“Regardless of the political climate, I have always felt at home at The Kennedy Center, and I am grateful for every person who has spent the last 50 years making it a beacon of nonpartisanship and celebration,” Seller added. “But we cannot presently support an institution that has been forced be external forces to betray its mission as a national cultural center that fosters the free expression of art in The United States of America.”
