Richard Grenell, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, wrote to staff after Vice President J.D. Vance was booed by the crowd and said “everyone is welcome.”
In a letter to staff at the Kennedy Center, Grenell, who serves as an envoy for President Donald Trump's special mission, revealed that he had “received several messages” from staff at the Kennedy Center.
“Last night and this morning, I received several messages from staff at the Kennedy Center who share more embarrassing than the several symphony patrons who loudly booed the vice president and his wife last night,” Grenell wrote. “As the best arts organization in the United States, we must work to make the Kennedy Center a place where everyone is welcome.”
Grenell added: “We have obviously something to do. And I hear your rage. As president, I take diversity and inclusion very seriously. I have met many of you. We love Christianity, Muslims, Jews, agnostics, gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic, and completely different things. This is our strength.”
“Intolerance towards different politically is as unacceptable as intolerance in other fields,” Grenell added. “Everyone is welcome at Kennedy Center.”
A letter from Grenell to the staff came later. video Posted on X Vance and his wife received boos from several members of the Kennedy Center crowd.
In response to a video of Vance being booed when they entered the Kennedy Center, Grenell noted that “the video should challenge us all to promise to make the Kennedy Center a place where everyone is welcome.”
“It bothers me to see that many in my audience are white and seem unbearable to diverse political views,” writes Grenell. post X. “Diversity is our strength. We need to do better. We must welcome you. We won't allow the Kennedy Center to be an intolerant place.”
Earlier in February, Trump revealed that he had been appointed chairman of the Kennedy Center, revealing his plan to “make the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC great again.”
Trump also revealed that he had removed several people from the board.
Breitbart News previously reported that after Trump was appointed chairman of the Kennedy Center, Grenell was nominated as interim president after Deborah Lutter, the former Kennedy Center president, was fired.
