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BlueWaveNeverEnd

(11,906 posts)
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 08:48 AM 13 hrs ago

Trump said he'd make Kennedy Center "hot" again. Instead ticket sales have plummeted since Trump takeover

Kennedy Center ticket sales have plummeted since Trump takeover https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kennedy-center-ticket-sales-have-plummeted-since-trump-takeover/ar-AA1PyzfG


After President Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in February, he and the executive he put in charge repeatedly accused the institution’s former leadership of not doing the very thing they are responsible for: selling tickets.


“We had spent way too much on programming that doesn’t bring in any revenue,” Richard Grenell, a Trump ally and former ambassador to Germany, told the Washington Reporter, a conservative media outlet, in late March. According to Grenell, the center hadn’t been making money. It was too woke and niche. The new team was, in Trump’s words, going to make it “hot” again.


Nearly nine months after Trump became chair of the center and more than a month into its main season, ticket sales for the Kennedy Center’s three largest performance venues are the worst they’ve been in years, according to a Washington Post analysis of ticketing data from dozens of recent shows as well as past seasons. Tens of thousands of seats have been left empty.

Since early September, 43 percent of tickets remained unsold for the typical production. That means that, at most, 57 percent of tickets were sold for the typical production — and some tickets may have been “comps,” which are given away, often to staff members or the press. That compares with 93 percent sold or comped in fall 2024 and 80 percent in fall 2023.

____

During the concert, which one of this article’s reporters attended, the ushers repeatedly encouraged audience members to move up to more expensive seats, as much of the orchestra section was empty. The top two tiers, which were originally available for purchase, were closed several days before the three-performance run because of low ticket sales

49 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Trump said he'd make Kennedy Center "hot" again. Instead ticket sales have plummeted since Trump takeover (Original Post) BlueWaveNeverEnd 13 hrs ago OP
Chachi, Lee Greenwood, Kid Rock, and Ted "poopy pants" Nugent? Stacey Grove 13 hrs ago #1
That would be an interesting, although ridiculous, lineup. Dave Bowman 13 hrs ago #15
Wah, wah, wah! Prof. Toru Tanaka 11 hrs ago #41
They may be popular with magats out at their rallies, but ms liberty 13 hrs ago #19
The TRUMP brand stinks. ProudMNDemocrat 13 hrs ago #2
yes it does and it has infected this once great nation. peacebuzzard 13 hrs ago #7
Should I be the first Norbert 13 hrs ago #3
I was going to say the same Norbert peacebuzzard 13 hrs ago #6
He's the anti-Midas. A Sadim Jerry2144 13 hrs ago #17
Remove the culture and plug it with bling bucolic_frolic 13 hrs ago #4
And want to reconstruct it into a golden monstrosity............... Lovie777 13 hrs ago #5
I don't know who would pay to see the MAGA approved shows he wants to have there. Diamond_Dog 13 hrs ago #8
Maybe they could play Springtime for Hitler? Dave Bowman 13 hrs ago #18
My Aunt Canceled Her Tickets Deep State Witch 13 hrs ago #9
good, I hope no one goes. peacebuzzard 13 hrs ago #12
🤣🤣🤣 underpants 13 hrs ago #14
Hats off to your aunt. 👍 Dave Bowman 13 hrs ago #20
It seems like his weirdness has contagiously spread peacebuzzard 13 hrs ago #10
Demolished in 3-2-1..... Blues Heron 13 hrs ago #11
Hot.... tanyev 13 hrs ago #13
Trump couldn't even make gambling casinos "hot." sop 13 hrs ago #16
Yeah, it takes a special kind of loser to bankrupt casinos. Dave Bowman 13 hrs ago #21
Dump's problem is that his notion of "hot" is not. He has the mental depth of allegorical oracle 13 hrs ago #22
Is he going to set it on fire? milestogo 13 hrs ago #23
Nope, they will use it to do nuclear tests on! usedtobedemgurl 5 hrs ago #48
The "Dancing with Donald" one-man show wasn't as much of a draw as they thought. Buns_of_Fire 13 hrs ago #24
LOL. Especially tomatoes. "They can hurt you!" he once exclaimed. nt allegorical oracle 11 hrs ago #40
ETTD tblue37 13 hrs ago #25
Everything trump touches dies LetMyPeopleVote 13 hrs ago #26
The Kennedy Center's legacy is dead mdbl 13 hrs ago #27
Just 1 Moron. SalamanderSleeps 12 hrs ago #31
Just wait until they install the stripper poles and host Kid Rock IronLionZion 12 hrs ago #28
Or Lara Trump. MIButterfly 12 hrs ago #29
ETTD COL Mustard 12 hrs ago #30
Get some tractor pulls and WWF in there. Aristus 12 hrs ago #32
Everything Trump Touches Dies D_Master81 12 hrs ago #33
Trump's long range plan AverageOldGuy 12 hrs ago #34
More like hot garbage. Crowman2009 12 hrs ago #35
Wait until he changes it to his name ! kimbutgar 11 hrs ago #36
Mr. McMahon and his wife will buy it, rename it the Trump WWE Arena, and he and Orange Julius Caesar will wrestle generalbetrayus 11 hrs ago #37
This asshole ruins everything he touches. ECL213 11 hrs ago #38
Monster truck, monster truck, monster trucks Johonny 11 hrs ago #39
Add it to his list of failures Blue Owl 10 hrs ago #42
I wondered where Ric Grinell ended up in this clown show Ruby the Liberal 10 hrs ago #43
Tickets were always too pricey when I lived there Warpy 10 hrs ago #44
trump lies, often. republianmushroom 9 hrs ago #45
Donald trump is the original casino "cooler". Totally Tunsie 8 hrs ago #46
Trump has the negative Midas effect. Everything he touches turns to shit. Martin68 7 hrs ago #47
He'll declare it unneeded since nobody goes there anymore... SeattleVet 3 hrs ago #49

ms liberty

(10,750 posts)
19. They may be popular with magats out at their rallies, but
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:15 AM
13 hrs ago

Those people are not the ones who buy tickets to the Kennedy Center, unless their old people tour group booked it as one of their activities on their DC trip.

peacebuzzard

(5,731 posts)
7. yes it does and it has infected this once great nation.
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:01 AM
13 hrs ago

I work with a lot of people and have many people around me all the time unless I am home.
And it seems like everyone, I mean everyone in this nation is on edge.

Jerry2144

(3,043 posts)
17. He's the anti-Midas. A Sadim
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:11 AM
13 hrs ago

Everything he touches turns to sh1t. Including our country

Diamond_Dog

(38,939 posts)
8. I don't know who would pay to see the MAGA approved shows he wants to have there.
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:01 AM
13 hrs ago

I can just picture the cobwebs inside.

Deep State Witch

(12,398 posts)
9. My Aunt Canceled Her Tickets
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:05 AM
13 hrs ago

She belonged to the National Symphony series and the Broadway series for many years. She canceled her tickets as soon as Taco Tits took it over. She's not the only one.

peacebuzzard

(5,731 posts)
10. It seems like his weirdness has contagiously spread
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:05 AM
13 hrs ago

the man is a (Biden said it better) SF. He is a parasite and he is rottten through and through with dementia nonetheless.
Why can't our elected people see this and do something
Why is there not a grand chorus screaming how he has to go?
Oh I forgot....follow the money.
We are so screwed.
(rant off)

Buns_of_Fire

(18,878 posts)
24. The "Dancing with Donald" one-man show wasn't as much of a draw as they thought.
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:25 AM
13 hrs ago

Especially after it was announced that no one would be seated who brought rotten produce with them to the show.

IronLionZion

(50,221 posts)
28. Just wait until they install the stripper poles and host Kid Rock
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:48 AM
12 hrs ago

Maybe Kash Patel's country singer girlfriend will host a concert there.

Aristus

(71,205 posts)
32. Get some tractor pulls and WWF in there.
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 10:22 AM
12 hrs ago

The rubes and the rednecks will come scurrying out of their trailers and their tar-paper shacks for those. If they have any money, that is.

AverageOldGuy

(3,116 posts)
34. Trump's long range plan
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 10:28 AM
12 hrs ago

Make Kennedy Center go broke. He’s good at bankruptcies.

Buy it, tear it down. He does this very well.

Build a Trump Tower.

generalbetrayus

(1,326 posts)
37. Mr. McMahon and his wife will buy it, rename it the Trump WWE Arena, and he and Orange Julius Caesar will wrestle
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 11:22 AM
11 hrs ago

nightly as the main event.

Johonny

(24,955 posts)
39. Monster truck, monster truck, monster trucks
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 11:36 AM
11 hrs ago

The only way to miss it to be dead or in jail and if your in jail break out!

Ruby the Liberal

(26,560 posts)
43. I wondered where Ric Grinell ended up in this clown show
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 12:01 PM
10 hrs ago

Who needs experience? Call central casting and find a MAGA approved gay guy to run the shows.

How very on brand.

Warpy

(114,130 posts)
44. Tickets were always too pricey when I lived there
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 12:23 PM
10 hrs ago

I did go to some wonderful concerts at Wolf Trap Farm, sat on the lawn where it was really cheap but still an intimate enough venue that I could see the performers. Got rained on every damn time.

I have a feeling Kennedy Center will be closed by the time Fatso and his crew are just a stink we're trying to air out. It's just not profitable, there will be more glitz and glam at the Epstein Ballroom (where they can make sure only Republicans can be admitted), and it's named for a dead Democrat.

(Just looked at Wolf Trap's list this year, you can tell the Republicans are in power, lots of C&W acts)

Totally Tunsie

(11,384 posts)
46. Donald trump is the original casino "cooler".
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 02:09 PM
8 hrs ago

Anything and everything he's involved with is going to tank sooner or later.

SeattleVet

(5,768 posts)
49. He'll declare it unneeded since nobody goes there anymore...
Fri Oct 31, 2025, 07:27 PM
3 hrs ago

and gut the place, turning it into yet another tRumpian nightmare of design.

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