Several drag queens protested and booed President Donald Trump as he attended a performance of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
The president’s visit marked his first since the inauguration. Video captured the moment several drag queens stood up in the audience as he appeared:
The president has always hailed Les Misérables as his favorite musical. As Consequence recently reported, half the play’s cast decided to boycott the performance due to the president’s visit.
Several cast members of Les Misérables will not be performing “One Day More” at their Kennedy Center concert next month — instead, they’ll be performing one day less in direct protest against Donald Trump’s attendance.
As reported by CNN, between 10 and 12 members of the touring cast of Les Misérables will boycott their June 11th performance at the Kennedy Center, which is set to follow a fundraiser headlined by the president. According to the report, the entire cast was given the choice to sit out, with both lead actors and ensemble members opting to do so.
As – News reported in February, President Trump was made chairman of the center following the firing of President Deborah Rutter. In turn, Trump aide and former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell was named interim president while Trump replaced outgoing chair David Rubenstein. As a result of the shakeup, several stars, including superstar soprano Renée Fleming, announced they would be cutting ties with the Kennedy Center. This was followed by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and lead producer Jeffrey Seller telling the New York Times that they would be canceling a scheduled production of the hit musical.
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” he wrote at the time. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
This latest action by Trump means it’s not the Kennedy Center as we knew it,” Lin-Manuel Miranda said. “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.”
Seller added that the creative team behind Hamilton felt that Trump “took away our national arts center for all of us.”
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