{"id":139747,"date":"2026-07-20T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T20:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/bill-maher-says-its-so-stupid-for-anti-trump-artists-to-bail-on-kennedy-center-performances-139747"},"modified":"2026-07-20T16:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T20:00:09","slug":"bill-maher-says-its-so-stupid-for-anti-trump-artists-to-bail-on-kennedy-center-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/bill-maher-says-its-so-stupid-for-anti-trump-artists-to-bail-on-kennedy-center-performances-139747","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher says it\u2019s ‘so stupid’ for anti-Trump artists to bail on Kennedy Center performances"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher<\/a> said it\u2019s “stupid” for musicians and artists to cancel Kennedy Center performances over President Donald Trump\u2019s attempt to put his name on the iconic building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maher recently accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center, where Trump serves as the chairman.\u00a0The HBO comedian sat down with ABC\u2019s\u00a0Jonathan Karl, who asked about artists who have refused to perform at the Kennedy Center over Trump.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s so stupid. First of all, you\u2019re just giving him the victory. He doesn\u2019t own the Kennedy Center. He doesn\u2019t own comedy,” Maher said in an extended version of the interview posted online.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Life goes on. That\u2019s the message I would send,” he continued. “I\u2019ve always watched the Kennedy Center honors. This is kind of like that but for one guy. It\u2019s the same thing. You\u2019re up in the box, you know, it\u2019s awesome. It\u2019s great, and it\u2019s rare, and it\u2019s America, and he doesn\u2019t own that, either.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

BILL MAHER ADMITS HE RESPECTS TRUMP FOR SEEING HIM AS RIVAL, TRYING TO BLOCK HIS AWARD<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The musical\u00a0“Hamilton,” actress Issa Rae, banjo player B\u00e9la Fleck, the San Francisco Ballet, cellist Seth Parker Woods, violinist Hilary Hahn, composer Philip Glass, Ren\u00e9e Fleming, Vocal Arts DC, the Brentano Quartet, the Seattle Children’s Theatre, the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Washington National Opera and Sonia De Los Santos are among the shows, performers and artists that have bailed on the Kennedy Center because of Trump, according to NPR.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maher dismissed people letting Trump “ruin everything,” and made light of the Trump administration initially attempting to stop him from receiving the award.<\/p>\n

“I was like, \u2018Game on,'” Maher said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This was after our dinner, our famous dinner, you know, back to sniping and yelling,” he continued. “But, better than no dialogue, in my view, so, when he did that, I was like, \u2018Good move, dude.\u2019”\u00a0<\/p>\n

JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP\u2019S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Maher and Trump have traded barbs over the last year despite meeting for dinner at the White House last year, which landed the HBO host in hot water with some liberals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maher, a longtime critic of Trump, said the president was “was gracious and measured” during the reportedly cordial meeting. But the White House dinner wasn\u2019t enough to stop Trump from criticizing Maher, who previously suggested he respected the hostility from the administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I love that, you know, he takes the game seriously. Like no, \u2018I\u2019m going to block this guy.\u2019 I respect the move,” Maher said on his\u00a0“Club Random” podcast<\/a>\u00a0in late April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Maher has also said anyone who stopped watching his show because he had dinner with Trump is an “idiot.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The battle over the Kennedy Center began in February 2025, shortly after Trump was inaugurated for a second time as president. He\u00a0replaced several trustees on the<\/a>\u00a0board, while also appointing himself a trustee.<\/p>\n

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP’S NAME REMOVED FROM KENNEDY CENTER, SAYS ONLY CONGRESS CAN RENAME IT<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The new Trump-allied board then elected him chair, enabling him to\u00a0fire the previous president<\/a>\u00a0of the center, Deborah Rutter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump and the center\u2019s board changed the name of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to “Trump-Kennedy Center,” but U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, said the iconic venue cannot be renamed without an act of Congress.<\/p>\n

The saga culminated on June 13, when workers began\u00a0removing Trump’s name<\/a>\u00a0from the Kennedy Center. The sign previously said “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts.”<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital\u2019s Hanna Panreck, James Cirrone\u00a0and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/bill-maher-says-its-so-stupid-anti-trump-artists-bail-kennedy-center-performances <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher said it\u2019s “stupid” for musicians and artists to cancel Kennedy Center performances over President Donald Trump\u2019s attempt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-139747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBill Maher says it\u2019s 'so stupid' for anti-Trump artists to bail on Kennedy Center performances - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/bill-maher-says-its-so-stupid-for-anti-trump-artists-to-bail-on-kennedy-center-performances-139747\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bill Maher says it\u2019s 'so stupid' for anti-Trump artists to bail on Kennedy Center performances - 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