Wednesday, July 8, 2026

First Kennedy Center Cancellation: Emmy Winner Issa Rae Says Sold Out Show Will Not Go On

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The fallout at the Kennedy Center has begun.

Popular and respected Emmy winner Issa Rae (Insecure, also Barbie) has cancelled her sold out show at the theater following the firing of the board and the installation of Donald Trump as chairman.

Rae doesn’t say this, but I will tell you again there isn’t one African American member of the new board. It’s composed entirely of Trump cronies.

All the artists have resigned including opera star Renee Fleming. Yesterday, Bob Barnett, the respected lawyer who’s represented the Ken Cen for 20 years, resigned as well. So did Shonda Rhimes.

This is just the beginning, folks.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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