Trump won’t hear the people sing.
At least 10 cast members from Les Misérables are planning to boycott President Donald Trump’s attendance at the Kennedy Center next month, CNN reported Wednesday.
Lead actors as well as ensemble members are among those refusing to perform for Trump on the night of June 11, when the president is set to headline a fundraiser for the center and attend a performance of the musical—one of his longtime favorites. The cast was reportedly given the option not to perform that night.
Tensions at the center have simmered since Trump hijacked the historically bipartisan center in February, when he fired board members appointed by former President Joe Biden, named himself chair, and installed MAGA loyalist Richard Grenell as director.
He has sought to remake the center in his own image, hoping to stage “non-woke” musicals and honor more conservative stars.
In response, artists including Issa Rae, Shonda Rhimes and Ben Folds resigned from their leadership roles at the center, and Jeffrey Seller, producer of the hit musical Hamilton, canceled the show’s upcoming run.
Trump brushed off the snub, telling reporters, “I never liked Hamilton very much.”
But the Les Misérables cast’s boycott might cut a little deeper.
Trump has never hidden his fondness for the musical—based on Victor Hugo’s French Revolution epic novel—and even used its theme song at a campaign event in 2016.
That got him in trouble with the musical’s co-creators, who scolded him for using Do You Hear the People Sing? at the rally without their permission.
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