Political Feelings Should Not Affect America’s 250th Birthday

On March 14, 2025, on this website, I wrote an essay criticizing Lin-Manuel Miranda for canceling performances of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center. The performances were supposed to be part of the celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

The reason given for the cancellation was to protest President Trump’s assuming control over the Kennedy Center and his appointees voting to rename the center The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Many other performers followed Mr. Miranda’s lead and canceled performances.

What I find wrong with Mr. Miranda’s decision is that the cancellation of Hamilton (and those of other performers) may have affected people who make a living by working as stagehands at the center, people who sell refreshments, people who clean up after performances, the staff of restaurants close to the venue, and taxi drivers who transport patrons to and from the center.

One person unlikely to be financially affected is President Trump. But any income lost by people who depend on Kennedy Center performances for their livelihoods is difficult to replace.

From a PR point of view, I think the cancellation of Hamilton was a mistake. It’s similar to the many PR practitioners over the years who have hired celebrities to endorse products. What a celebrity says is often forgotten quickly by the public.

The same may be true of Mr. Miranda’s decision to cancel the Kennedy Center’s Hamilton run. His reasons for canceling performances that were to be part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence may ultimately become a footnote in the larger story of the celebration.

But proving that history sometimes repeats itself, performers also canceled appearances at an event created to celebrate America’s 250th birthday that was part of the Great American State Fair. The performers said they withdrew because they were misled and did not know the concerts were organized by political allies of Mr. Trump. (I never knew that a performance would be labeled pro-Democratic or pro-Republican unless it was at a campaign rally. It just goes to show you: you're never too old to learn.)

Unlike Mr. Miranda’s decision, I have no trouble with those who pulled out of the Freedom 250 concerts if they genuinely believed they had been misled. But from a public relations point of view, I still believe the decisions to cancel appearances at both the Kennedy Center and the Freedom 250 events were mistakes.

They had the opportunity to perform at events celebrating America’s 250th birthday. It was not a celebration of Donald Trump. Instead, some may remember them as putting politics ahead of participating in a national celebration. And the result is unlikely to affect President Trump’s policies. Challenges to those policies, where they occur, are ultimately resolved through the political process and the courts.

If I had been asked for my opinion by the performers who opted not to perform, I would have advised them to appear and then make clear that they were participating to celebrate America, even if they disagreed with the policies of President Trump.

A host of prominent performers making statements after each performance might have generated more media coverage for their views than canceling appearances, which received relatively limited coverage and quickly faded from the news cycle.

In my opinion, political feelings should not prevent an artist from performing as part of America’s 250th birthday celebration. There are other ways for artists to make their political beliefs known.

As readers of my political essays know, I am not a fan of many of President Trump’s policies. But knee-jerk opposition to everything he does is, in my view, just as unhelpful as saying that everything Democrats do is correct.

But there’s one thing I’m sure of. Had the artists appeared as scheduled, their participation likely would have been viewed as just another performance. By canceling, however, they may have elevated the controversy itself into a larger story.

As I’ve often told PR practitioners facing a crisis, sometimes it is best to do nothing. America’s 250th birthday celebration is one of those times.