The hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” has canceled its eight-week run in 2026 at the Kennedy Center amid President Donald Trump’s takeover of the national performing arts center.
Jeffrey Seller, the producer of “Hamilton,” wrote on the play’s official Instagram that political debate and disagreement are “vital expressions of democracy,” but that the Kennedy Center should be “protected from politics.”
“However, in recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed,” Seller wrote. “The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents.”
The Tony Award-winning play about Alexander Hamilton was scheduled to return to the D.C. venue from March 3 through April 26, 2026.
When asked for comment, the Kennedy Center directed HuffPost to a post from Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Kennedy Center. Grenell wrote on X that Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton,” “can’t be in the same room with Republicans.” He also called the move a “publicity stunt that will backfire.”
Miranda’s representatives declined to comment on Grenell’s accusation, but in a separate comment, Miranda said the Kennedy Center has “long been an artistic center historically devoid of a political point of view.”
“At its heart, Hamilton celebrates American diversity,” Miranda said. “The recent shift in the Kennedy Center’s ideology and board leadership has made it untenable for a production like Hamilton to celebrate and be celebrated there today.”
In February, Trump made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center and immediately began his overhaul. He fired the center’s long-term president Deborah Rutter, replacing her with Grenell, a Trump loyalist. In total, Trump fired 18 board members that were appointed by former President Joe Biden. Trump’s actions spurred others to resign from the board, including writer-producer Shonda Rimes.
In Seller’s statement, he wrote that the show “cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center.”
“’Hamilton’ was proudly performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the first Trump administration,” Seller wrote. “We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover.”
He continued, saying the cancellation is also a “business decision” because the Kennedy Center can’t be trusted to uphold contracts and previous agreements. Seller is seemingly referring to the Kennedy Center’s recent decision to cancel a planned tour of “Finn,” a children’s musical that can be interpreted as a LGBTQ+ metaphor.
“I have personally loved the Kennedy Center since touring it as a seventh grader in 1977 along with the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial,” Seller wrote. “I watched the first Kennedy Center Honors in 1978. Regardless of the political climate, I have always felt at home at The Kennedy Center, and I am grateful for every person who has spent the last 50 years making it a beacon of nonpartisanship and celebration. But we cannot presently support an institution that has been forced by external forces to betray its mission as a national cultural center that fosters the free expression of art in The United States of America.”
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Since Trump’s takeover, several artists have canceled their shows at the Kennedy Center, including Issa Rae, Rhiannon Giddensand the band Low Cut Connie.
Trump has long been critical of the performing arts center, specifically its drag shows.
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” Trump said on Truth Social in February. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”