A third Kennedy Center Board member left their post today. According to The Hollywood Reporter, TV showrunner and executive producer Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, The Residence) resigned as treasurer from the organization’s board. Her leaving comes the same day artist Ben Folds (Way to Normal, Sleigher) announced his departure after President Donald Trump appointed himself as chairman.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Trump announced on Friday his plans to remove many current members including chairman David M. Rubenstein. He self-appointed 13 new members including Dana Blumberg, Susie Wiles, Patricia Duggan, Dan Scavino, Emilia May Fanjul, Pamela Gross, Allison Lutnick, Lynda Lomangino, John Flaconetti, Mindy Levine, Sergio Gor, Usha Vance, and Cheri Summerall.
The new board also forced out the organization’s third president, Deborah F. Rutter, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Rutter, who had served since 2014, had planned to depart at the end of this year. Trump appointed his former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, as interim president.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Folds served as the artistic director of the National Symphony Orchestra. Grammy-winning soprano and actress, Rénee Fleming (Late Show with David Letterman, We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial), announced her resignation shortly after Folds.
Founded in honor of the 35th president, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors in 1971. Throughout the decades it has hosted numerous plays, operas, concerts, and other art form performances within the central Washington D.C. area. Under its tutelage, it manages the Washington National Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the well-known Kennedy Center Honors.
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual ceremony celebrating artists’ contributions to the arts. According to a previous THR article, the 47th ceremony was held in December. Hosted by the 2023 Kennedy Center honoree Queen Latifah (Bessie, Living Single), the event honored Godfather filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt (Nick of Time, “I Can’t Make You Love Me”), Cuban-American jazz musician Arturo Sandoval (Just Music, Flight to Freedom), and 70s rock band the Grateful Dead (American Beauty, Go to Heaven). The ceremony aired on CBS.