Hamilton cancels Kennedy Center 2026 performances amid Trump shakeup

WASHINGTON - The Broadway sensation "Hamilton" has canceled its planned performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., next year. 

The decision comes in response to President Donald Trump's recent changes to the leadership of the arts institution.

"Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center," said Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller in a statement released online. "Therefore, we have cancelled the third engagement of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center, originally scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026."

Tickets had not yet gone on sale.

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Hamilton cancels 2026 Kennedy Center performances

What we know:

Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop-infused biography of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, has clinched numerous prestigious awards. "Hamilton" received the Tony Award for Best New Musical, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a Grammy, and the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. Miranda himself was honored with a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant.

The show played the Kennedy Center in 2018 during President Trump's first term and again in 2022 under President Joe Biden. 

"We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover," Seller’s statement continued.

"Our cancellation is also a business decision. Hamilton is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement," Seller added.

READ MORE: Trump elected chairman of Kennedy Center, replaces board with loyalists

Turmoil at Kennedy Center due to leadership changes

The Kennedy Center has been in turmoil since Trump ousted its leadership and assumed the role of chair of the board of trustees. 

Actor Issa Rae, singer-musician Rhiannon Giddens, author Louise Penny, and the rock band Low Cut Connie have all canceled their scheduled events at the Kennedy Center. Singer-songwriter Victoria Clark kept her February 15 show but made a statement by wearing a T-shirt that read "ANTI TRUMP AF" on stage.

READ MORE: Issa Rae cancels sold-out Kennedy Center show after Trump named chairman

Artists and performers respond to new leadership

What's next:

The musical "Hamilton" has a history of taking political stances. In 2016, the cast made a curtain call appeal to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was in the audience, urging the Trump administration to uphold American values and work on behalf of all citizens.

The Kennedy Center, funded by government money and private donations, attracts millions of visitors each year. The complex features a concert hall, opera house, theater, lecture hall, meeting spaces, and the "Millennium Stage," which hosts free shows.

The arts center, supported by government money and private donations, attracts millions of visitors each year to a complex that features a concert hall, opera house and theater, along with a lecture hall, meeting spaces and a "Millennium Stage" that has been the site for free shows.

READ MORE: Trump moves to reshape Kennedy Center, vows to end drag shows

Full Statement from Hamilton Producer Jeffrey Seller

"Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy. These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of Hamilton. However, some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution.

The Kennedy Center was founded over 50 years ago with a sincere bipartisan spirit. Indeed, it was founded during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, named after President John F. Kennedy, and opened in 1971 under the administration of Richard M. Nixon. The Kennedy Center was meant to be for all Americans, a place where we could all come together in celebration of the arts. Politics have never affected the presentation of thousands of shows and the display of extraordinary visual arts.

However, in recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed. 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. This spirit of nonpartisanship ended on February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, and numerous other Kennedy Center board members, as well as the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.

Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center. Therefore, we have cancelled the third engagement of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center, originally scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026.

Hamilton was proudly performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the first Trump administration. We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover.

Our cancellation is also a business decision. Hamilton is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the new Chairman of the Board in recent weeks demonstrate that contracts and previous agreements simply cannot be trusted. This is sad, because basic integrity and the rule of law have long been great American principles that help serve as a foundation for our Nation.

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. 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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