Deborah Rutter served as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for a decade. This week, she was fired. President Trump had replaced many board members with his own supporters. Then, on Wednesday, the new board elected Trump as the center's new chair.
It was a fulfillment of the promise President Trump repeated on Monday to become chairman, along with promising the Kennedy Center's performances would be "good" and "not woke."
Trump previously said that he had never been to a show at the Kennedy Center. "I didn't want to go," he said during a gaggle aboard Air Force One on Sunday. "There was nothing I wanted to see."
In the first interview since her ouster, Deborah Rutter told NPR that she was "really, really, really sad about what happens to our artists, what happens on our stages and our staff who support them."
Rutter told All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly about the abrupt end of her tenure.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Mary Louise Kelly: How abrupt was it? How did you find out all this was afoot?
Deborah Rutter: I was actually in the basement of the Kennedy Center with my executive assistant, and I got a phone call from a member of the board.
It was very short and direct. It was from somebody I'd worked with for many, many years.
Kelly: Did you have any idea this was coming?
Rutter: Well, I wasn't surprised. There had been communication saying that an interim executive director would be coming in to meet with me and to work alongside me. I read between the lines a little bit.
Kelly: Any precedent you can think of for a head of state installing himself as the chair of a major arts institution?
Rutter: I don't know it anywhere in the history of the United States. I think if we go into history, you probably see it somewhere. But I haven't taken the time to really look at it that closely because until last Friday, I had no idea that this was the plan.
Kelly: The Kennedy Center is prestigious. It's very well known. It is also one institution inside the Beltway in Washington, D.C. Why should the rest of the country, the rest of the world care about who's in charge?
Rutter: So the Kennedy Center is absolutely the local performing arts center for the people who live in the region and who visit. But it is, by congressional mandate, the National Cultural Center. And we have a mandate from 1958 that calls for it to be the National Performing Arts Center and the National Advocate for Arts Education. In 1964, they added the Living Memorial to John F. Kennedy. So this is more than just the local performing arts center. It represents America to the world, and it invites the world to our nation's capital to be a showcase for all of the arts.
Kelly: To your knowledge, can President Trump do this? Is there any law, any statute that would prevent him from ousting the board, ousting you?
Rutter: The statute establishes that a 36-member board and a 21-member ex officio board guide the operations of the Kennedy Center and those three [pillars] of our mission. Those 36 [board members] are appointed by the president of the United States to serve for a six year term. It is silent on whether or not the president can remove them. And it is clear, absolutely clear in our bylaws, that the board elects the chairman of the board. So it is unprecedented for the Kennedy Center to have the president of the United States as a member of the board. And it is, therefore, unprecedented that the board would elect that individual to be chair of the board.
Kelly: Unprecedented, not necessarily illegal or –
Rutter: I can't speak to that. But that is what the statute and our bylaws call for.
Kelly: It's been, what, two days since you were ousted? How are you thinking about things?
Rutter: I'm really, really, really sad about what happens to our artists, what happens on our stages and our staff who support them. The Kennedy Center is meant to be a beacon for the arts in all of America across the country. And we have worked so hard and accomplished so much over this last decade to really broaden the programming, to invite all manner of arts and artists to our stages. And we've expanded our audience as a result. I pray that that can be sustained. But that's my biggest concern.
Kelly: Renée Fleming, the famous soprano, has announced she is stepping down as artistic adviser. Yesterday I saw the actor and director Issa Rae say she is canceling what was supposed to be a sold out show at the Kennedy Center next month. What is your advice to artists going forward? Should they come to the Kennedy Center? Should they perform?
Rutter: If they have the invitation and they know that the environment is safe for them to express their ideas and their art. Absolutely. Our national cultural center needs and deserves to be the platform for artists of all sorts. But they have to feel welcome and safe.
Kelly: That prompts me to ask about a comment that President Trump made. As you know, he criticized the Kennedy Center for being woke. He has also said, and I'm quoting, "No more drag shows or other anti-American propaganda. Only the best." Deborah Rutter, how do you understand those words? How do you react?
Rutter: I am a professional arts attendee. I am a believer in the work of the artist. I am not a propagandist. I am not a politician. Art speaks for itself. Art sometimes doesn't make you feel comfortable, but it is telling the story of who we are and all artists, as all Americans, have the freedom of expression.
I will tell you that we have many, many more people coming to performances today because they see themselves welcome at the Kennedy Center. And that is my concern. How will we be able to sustain what we've done to really throw open the doors and make sure that the Kennedy Center is not just welcoming everybody, but seeing themselves and hearing their stories on our stages?
Oh, I used "our." I guess it is still "our" stage. It's – the Kennedy Center is my cultural center, as well.
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