What do you when your theater gets a bomb threat over a dance company?
Why, invite them back!
Last year Shen Yun, the colorful dance troupe that may be a front for money laundering, kicked off its Kennedy Center run with a bang.
The theater got a bomb threat and had to evacuate the building.
You’d think that would be enough for the beleaguered Kennedy Center, which can’t even get “Hamilton” to perform there and is the subject of daily scandals. But they can’t entice much programming since Donald Trump, Tricky Dick Grenell, and the rest of the Christian right took over.
So Shen Yun is returning next month for more fun. Shows were announced for January 7th through the 14th, but that last show has already been cancelled.
I told you in June 2024 that Shen Yun was caught in accusations of a money laundering scheme that included the Epoch Times and Chinese dissidents Falun Gong. The chief financial officer was indicted by the Justice Department for laundering $67 million.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Bill Guan, the Chief Financial Officer of a global newspaper and media company, conspired with others to benefit himself, the media company, and its affiliates by laundering tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and other crime proceeds. When banks raised questions about the funds, Guan allegedly lied repeatedly and falsely claimed that the funds came from legitimate donations to the media company.
Might that not have something to do with the bomb threat? They’ve had similar situations in other cities.
This what’s happened to the Kennedy Center. From January through the end of April they have almost no programming except their subscription series. A B level tour of the musical, “Chicago,” is coming in for a week.
But there’s a lot of competition in Washington. Both Arena Stage and the National Theater have a lot of hits on their schedule. The Kennedy Center will be looking like a ghost town through the winter.
Poor Shen Yun. It’s a beautiful show, but it’s so wrapped up in cults and Department of Justice lawsuits, not to mention bomb threats, it might be better to go somewhere else!
Tricky Dick Grenell is doing a great job at the Kennedy Center when he’s not helping launch World War III with Venezuela.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/chief-financial-officer-multinational-media-company-charged-participating-scheme
