John Lithgow says Trump's return is biggest 'disaster' for the arts since COVID-19
According to The Guardian, Lithgow railed against the president in a speech after winning the best actor award at the Olivier Awards in London.
"Our administration has done some shocking, destructive things, but the one that grieves me most is taking over the Kennedy Center," he said, referring to how Trump appointed himself the chairman of the Kennedy Center since taking office, in a move that has made the theater a new front for the culture wars.
He has since appointed his allies to help turn its financials around after being $72 million in debt.
Trump Fired Kennedy Center Board Members Citing Drag Shows, Appoints Himself Chairman
While the Kennedy Center was already in the process of selecting new leadership, as then-President Deborah Rutter announced her intention to step down in January, Lithgow lamented that Trump fired her all the same. He went on to dub the president as the latest disaster for the arts since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read On The Fox News App
"Deborah Rutter was fired from her position as president – even though she'd already resigned and had [several] months to go," Lithgow said. "She's a very good friend of mine. We co-chaired a commission on the arts [launched by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2018] and spent three years finding out the state of the arts in America [was] in crisis. Well, it's really in crisis now. First there was coronavirus, now there's this."
After claiming that the state of the arts community in America is a "pure disaster — really disheartening," he argued the community may learn to benefit from such difficult times.
"It gives us all something to fight for, and I think the arts are animated by that. Right now, everybody is in shock," he said, according to The Guardian, suggesting that after the initial shock wears off, "bad times create good art."
Lithgow, who's had an extensive television and film career, was recently cast in the role of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in HBO's upcoming adaptation of the "Harry Potter" series.
Hollywood Takes Shots At Trump While Celebrating Conan O'brien Amid Kennedy Center Shake-up
Lithgow was named best actor at the Oliviers for playing British author Roald Dahl in Mark Rosenblatt's play "Giant." While the actor suggested that America's longstanding special relationship with the United Kingdom is "more complicated than usual" at the moment, he said it nonetheless remains "intact."
Lithgow also won an Emmy for another iconic British role in 2017: Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Netflix's "The Crown."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.Original article source: John Lithgow says Trump's return is biggest 'disaster' for the arts since COVID-19
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Intel's Frankfurt-listed shares rise 3.6% after report US could take stake in chipmaker
LONDON (Reuters) -Intel's Frankfurt-listed shares rose 3.6% on Friday, a day after Bloomberg News reported the Trump administration is in talks with the struggling chipmaker to have the U.S. government potentially take a stake in the company. Intel's U.S. shares surged more than 7% in regular trading Thursday and then another 2.6% after the bell. Intel on Thursday declined to comment on the report. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Newsweek
9 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Satellite Images Show How Ukraine Territory Has Changed During Russia War
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. As U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in Alaska for the first summit of his second term with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the biggest question is what will happen to Ukraine's territory. The two leaders will meet at a major U.S. military base in Anchorage later on Friday, in part to discuss an end to more than three and a half years of full-scale war that have ravaged eastern Europe since Moscow invaded its neighbor in early 2022. Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, will not attend the talks, despite reports that the White House was weighing up the involvement of Ukrainian president. Russia has so far refused Ukraine's repeated calls for a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky. Trump told European leaders on Wednesday that he wouldn't negotiate with Russia on territorial issues at the summit, according to Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz. But the thorny issue hangs over the Alaska meeting, after Russia reiterated its position on land in Ukraine remained unchanged. 1 of 4 Kyiv and Moscow's positions on the chunks of Ukraine that Russia will control in any ceasefire agreement have always been far apart, and there is little hint that this has changed. Trump has said both sides will be expected to cede territory in negotiations. Kyiv says it is against its constitution to give away Ukrainian land to Russia and Moscow has been unbending during months of peace talks. How Much Land Does Russia Control? Currently, Moscow controls around one-fifth of territory that is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. This includes Crimea, the peninsula to the south of mainland Ukraine, which was annex by Moscow in 2014. That year, Russia also backed separatist fighters in Ukraine's Donbas region, which historically has been Ukraine's industrial heartland, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east. Russia now controls much of Donetsk, as well as swathes of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in the southeast. Russia claims it has captured all of Luhansk, although some Western assessments indicate Ukraine still controls a slither of the region. The Kremlin declared in fall 2022 it had annexed these four regions, although it did not—and still does not—have a grip on all the territory in these oblasts. In ceasefire negotiations, Russia has demanded Ukraine pulls out of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson—including from areas Ukraine still currently controls. Russia's other stipulations include limits on Ukraine's military, putting the Russian language on par with Ukrainian in official standings, and that Kyiv does not join NATO. Ukraine has repeatedly said that ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia is off the table. It goes against the country's constitution, Zelensky said again over the weekend. "No one will deviate from this—and no one will be able to," Zelensky said in a post on the messaging app Telegram on Saturday. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier." Ukraine has consistently said it needs security guarantees, and not to be bound by any limits on the size of its armed forces. Kyiv also does not want to be labeled a neutral state, but rather one firmly on the path to NATO and European Union membership. The Hot Spots As the conflict wore on and Moscow advanced, different cities became hot spots for fierce clashes between Russian and Ukrainian troops. Russia quickly became known for "meat grinder" assaults, sustaining high numbers of casualties in vicious battles in exchange for small but consistent territorial gains. Russia's progress is much slower in built-up, well-defended areas, like the cities it has thrown many resources, and soldiers, into capturing, according to analysts. Since the start of January to the end of April this year, Russia gained a total of 1,627 square kilometers, or 628 square miles, in Ukraine and in its own Kursk region, where it batted back Ukraine's cross-border incursion, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in a report about the front lines in May. Russia sustained an average of 99 casualties for every square kilometer (0.38 square miles) of territory taken in those months, the ISW said. Pokrovsk Russian forces have spent roughly a year inching their way toward the Donetsk city of Pokrovsk, the city itself facing heavy bombardment. In recent months, Moscow has moved to encircle the settlement, a major logistics hub for Ukrainian troops. Popular Ukrainian war blog Deep State said earlier this week that Russian soldiers were "actively advancing" around Dobropillia, a town northwest of Pokrovsk. Dobropillia is connected to several so-called "fortress cities" critical to Ukraine's defense in Donetsk, namely Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk. Deep State's analysis described the clashes as "chaotic," and that Russian troops had "found gaps in the defense." Drag slider compare photos Avdiivka East of Pokrovsk, perched on the shoulder of the Russian-controlled regional capital, Donetsk city, sits Avdiivka. The heavily fortified industrial town weathered a decade on the front lines, and Ukraine's defenses cemented ahead of Russia's offensive in October 2023. But Russian forces captured Avdiivka in February 2024, clinching a symbolic and strategic prize for the Kremlin that paved the way for further gains. Drag slider compare photos Bakhmut After months of bitter clashes since July 2022, the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, north of Avdiivka, fell to Russian forces in May 2023. There was "nothing" left of the city, Zelensky said at the time. "They destroyed everything." Drag slider compare photos Also staring down approaching Russian troops is Kupiansk, a major city in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Kupiansk was quickly occupied by Russian forces that swept into the country in February 2022, but Ukrainian troops peeled back Russian control there as part of Kyiv's lightning counteroffensive in September the same year, a success it has not been able to replicate in the years since. But Kupiansk is once again brushing up against the front lines. A Ukrainian soldier fighting close to Kupiansk said on Wednesday that Russian forces were using small groups to find gaps in Ukrainian defenses, according to the ISW.
CNBC
12 minutes ago
- CNBC
Oil maintains gains ahead of Trump-Putin summit
Oil prices nudged higher on Friday to fresh one-week highs after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of "consequences" if Russia blocked a Ukraine peace deal, injecting concerns about supply. Sentiment was also boosted by strong economic data out of Japan, which is among the largest global crude importers. Brent crude futures gained 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $67.00 a barrel by (0017 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 14 cents, also 0.2%, to $64.10. All eyes are on Friday's meeting of Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska where a ceasefire in the Ukraine war is at the top of the agenda. A continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine supports oil markets by limiting the supply of Russian oil. Trump, however, also said he believes Russia is prepared to end the war in Ukraine. Fresh Japanese government data released on Friday showed the economy expanded an annualized 1.0% in the April-June quarter, compared with a median market forecast for a 0.4% increase. The rise in gross domestic product (GDP) translated into a quarterly increase of 0.3%, compared with a median estimate of a 0.1% increase. Strong economic activity typically spurs oil consumption. Prospects of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates, however, kept oil prices from rising further. Higher-than-expected inflation data and weak jobs numbers out of the U.S. raised concerns that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates high, usually a dampener of oil consumption.
