Friday, March 13, 2026

Kennedy Center Dumps Richard Grenell as Chief After He Destroys the Place, Trump Installs New Staff

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“Tricky Dick” Richard Grenell is OUT at the Kennedy Center.

After just about burning the place to the ground, Grenell has essentially been fired as head of the facility by Donald Trump.

Thanks to Grenell, ticket sales plummeted, performers and artists boycotted and cancelled shows, and soon the Kennedy Center will shut down for two years.

Grenell’s run is a total failure.

In his place comes one Matt Floca, previously director of facilities. Floca is not artistic director, because the renamed UGH Trump Kennedy Center won’t have shows for two years. Floca is in charge of finding slabs of marble and the right fake gold baubles that please Trump.

The news breaks as the Washington Opera Company has exited the Kennedy Center and started performances nearby. The National Symphony Orchestra is going to do the same.

Trump should put Grenell in charge of MAGA now. That’s one way to kill off this heinous group off quickly. Rarely has a presidential appointee been so clueless and tone deaf about his job.

Next up: the courts will have to rule against the planned demolition of the Kennedy Center before it becomes a debacle similar to the White House.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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