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

[0:00] Unless the courts intervene, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will shut down this July [0:04] for two years as part of a roughly $250 million renovation. In the lead-up, there's been a wave [0:10] of layoffs and a controversial rebranding under President Trump's allies. But the questions are [0:16] mounting. Is a full shutdown really necessary? Were artists critical of Trump pushed aside? [0:22] And did the center's finances deteriorate after new leadership took over? Now, Yosef Palermo, [0:27] an artist and arts organizer who served for the past 10 months as the center's first curator of [0:33] visual arts, is speaking out. He was among those laid off and has written a firsthand account in [0:38] The Atlantic titled, What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center. And he joins us now. Thank you for being [0:43] here. Thank you for having me. So in your piece, you noted that President Donald Trump promised the [0:48] best is yet to come for the Kennedy Center. But you write that instead you saw cronyism, [0:53] incompetence, and a series of bizarre moves that would lead to the Kennedy Center going dark. [0:58] What did that actually look like in practice? [1:00] Yeah, I mean, the bizarre moves that I was referring to are largely centered around fundraising and the [1:08] tactics that were used to fundraise. And a lot of that seemed to be positioning the proximity [1:13] of the president in his chairmanship of the Kennedy Center and essentially selling access to that [1:19] through things like the preview event of Les Miserables. There was an evening last summer where, [1:27] you know, it was reported that tickets were going for $2 million to sit near the president in his [1:34] presidential box and attend a VIP reception. I was also made aware of six-figure tickets in the orchestra [1:41] level, just because it was in the same room as the president for that performance. And I just recalled [1:49] thinking that this was not how we do things in the nonprofit arts sector. And it's true that, [1:57] and I cite this in my piece in The Atlantic, a colleague of mine actually said, we are grafting [2:03] political management strategies onto a non-political organization. There were also very questionable [2:09] things happening with respect to the lounges, these lounges that were established as, you know, [2:15] gifts by different countries. And in terms of the incompetence, I really just mean that to speak to the [2:24] leadership that came in with no arts management experience and didn't really seem to care about [2:30] having any arts management experience or motivation to do anything with the Kennedy Center other than [2:38] show up on a red carpet and take pictures. You oversaw the Center's collection of art, [2:44] and you say that priceless works were taken down during the renovation. What exactly was removed, [2:49] and do you know where it ended up? Right. So I had been tasked by Grinnell himself. [2:56] Rick Grinnell. Rick Grinnell to oversee, in his words, getting rid of the artworks in the Kennedy [3:03] Center ahead of the renovations. This was a directive that he gave me in his office shortly [3:08] after Donald Trump made his Truth Social post about the closure. I was told that we, the Kennedy Center, [3:16] wanted new art to replace the outgoing art for the reopening. And so what I was tasked with was, [3:24] you know, contacting donors. In some cases, that's, you know, foreign nations that made donations to [3:30] the American people by way of the Kennedy Center, and asked them to remove their work, or in some [3:36] cases, paid to remove it if it was a statue that was installed outside that had to be dug up. Without [3:43] my knowledge, the African room, which is again, one of these lounges, that was something like 30, [3:53] 32 African nations came together at the time the Kennedy Center opened to gift this lounge. And [4:01] inside that room were beautiful handmade tapestries from different tribes throughout the continent of [4:08] Africa. There was a sculpture from Ghana that represented the collective Africans' grief [4:13] at the assassination of President Kennedy. And there were ornate hand-carved wooden doors carved from 700-year-old wood that [4:23] contained scenes of Yoruban village life. That room is now completely gutted and emptied. I was not told where those items went. [4:34] The Kennedy Center told us in a statement in response to our question about this. They said, [4:38] there are currently no planned changes to art. Our archivist is working to properly catalogue the art. We are working with conservators to inventory the artwork as we prepare for the closure and construction period. To preserve art during construction, some items may be covered, stored, or temporarily moved to ensure safekeeping. How does that strike you? [4:58] That's correct. The archivist started about a week or two before I was laid off on March 26th. And I just hope that the Kennedy Center, you know, saying that you're moving things for safekeeping is great. But I hope that it also means that those items will be returned. [5:17] So the official reason for this two-year closure starting in July is renovation. Based on what you saw, do you believe that explanation? [5:26] I do not. As far back as August, I had been made aware of rumors inside the Kennedy Center that the CFO had been proposing closing the center at the end of September. [5:44] Because they were losing money. [5:45] Because they were losing money. That was what I was told. And that they were planning to use the cover of the renovations as a way to basically cease operations to stop the bleed of finances. [5:57] And I do believe that's attributed to the fact that Rick Grinnell did not raise the money that he claimed he did. In many public statements, he made a figure of $130 million. [6:09] I believe that that's also what he told the president. And I believe that the president found out that we didn't have that money. And that's why Rick Grinnell is no longer the head of the Kennedy Center and why we are now, in fact, closing. [6:23] In the piece you wrote for The Atlantic, much of your criticism focuses on Rick Grinnell, the former leader of the center. As an employee, though, as I understand it, you praised his leadership. But now you're giving a very different assessment. Why? [6:35] I mean, Rick was my boss. And I wanted to maintain a professional working relationship and environment. I was not the only one, even among his own hires, who expressed criticism behind closed doors of his leadership and lack thereof. [6:51] But obviously, you know, I'm not going to go up to him and tell him these things. [6:58] The Kennedy Center has always had a political dimension. It is a federal institution. Some would argue that every administration leaves its imprint on the Kennedy Center and other similar institutions. [7:11] Why does this moment rise to the level of desecration, as you put it in the piece? [7:17] I firmly believe that our public arts institutions should never be politicized. I think that the Kennedy Center belongs to the American people. It's how we express our national cultural identity. It's how we share that with the world. [7:32] And I'm coming forward as a whistleblower because I'm calling on Congress to enact some kind of a firewall to prevent this from ever happening again. And I believe that that should be a bipartisan effort. [7:44] The administration will say that you are a disgruntled former employee with a motive. [7:50] Well, I think the motive is, yes, I'm trying to stop their desecration of the Kennedy Center by any means necessary. And I find that to be bringing the truth forward. [8:03] Yosef Palermo, thank you for sharing your insights and for joining us today. [8:07] Thank you. [8:18] Support journalism you trust. Support PBS News. Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today.