Kennedy Center vice president says he was fired after past writings, statements questioned
A former vice president at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts says he was fired by the organization following a CNN investigation into his previous comments on gay marriage.
Floyd Brown, who served as the center's top fundraiser for only several weeks, wrote in a social media post this week he was fired after being contacted by a CNN reporter inquiring about his comments on his personal website and other platforms criticizing homosexuality and floating conspiracy theories about former President Obama.
'Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues who do incredible work for the patrons of the Center,' Brown wrote in a statement he said he provided to CNN and included in his post on social platform X. 'As a Christian I am called to work with others of different beliefs and worldviews.'
Brown said he asked for an explanation for his firing and to speak with Richard Grenell, a President Trump ally and the interim Kennedy Center president, but 'both of those requests have been ignored.'
'My only conclusion is [Grenell] was intimidated by a CNN story … so he preemptively fired me for my Christian beliefs on marriage,' Brown said.
The CNN story laid out Brown's history of attacking Republican leaders and activists for an 'acceptance of the open promotion of the gay lifestyle inside the tent of conservatism' and comments calling gay marriage 'a hoax' and 'godless.'
A representative for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Brown's dismissal.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Ex-Homeland Security official Taylor fights back against Trump's ‘unprecedented' investigation order
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Coming on the same April day that Trump also ordered an investigation into Chris Krebs, a former top cybersecurity official, the dual memoranda illustrated how Trump has sought to use the powers of the presidency against his adversaries. Speaking to the AP, Taylor said the order targeting him sets a 'scary precedent' and that's why he decided to call on the inspectors general to investigate. 'I didn't commit any crime, and that's what's extraordinary about this. I can't think of any case where someone knows they're being investigated but has absolutely no idea what crime they allegedly committed. And it's because I didn't,' Taylor said. He called it a 'really, really, really scary precedent to have set is that the president of the United States can now sign an order investigating any private citizen he wants, any critic, any foe, anyone.' 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an hour ago
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He has not apologized or much addressed the series of sexual misconduct accusations that forced his resignation or the more than 12,000 deaths in nursing homes as he ran the state's Covid-19 response – yet few voters are saying they care much, or even remember, according to focus groups conducted by opposition campaigns. He never talks about redemption, though he has been chasing that since almost the moment he finished his resignation speech in August 2021. 'That's clearly what it is, but he doesn't talk about it that way,' said one prominent Democrat who's spoken to Cuomo multiple times about the race but has heard no sense of reflection. 'He talks about how the Democratic Party is so screwed up and it's too far to the left, he talks about what a disaster [former Mayor Bill] de Blasio was, what a disaster [current Mayor Eric] Adams is.' 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With ranked choice voting, 'progressives are really trying to figure out what strategies work best in that environment in a way that moderates or the right really haven't had to wrestle with because there's one of them, where there's a slate of progressive candidates,' said Tiffany Cabán, a city councilwoman from Queens proudly risen out of the Democratic Socialists of America, in an interview on the steps of City Hall last week. The one concerted effort to stop Cuomo came from Letitia James, who was urged into first running for state attorney general by Cuomo in 2018, and then led the investigations into the nursing home deaths and sexual misconduct allegations. After deciding not to run against Cuomo herself to focus on leading lawsuits against the incoming Trump administration, James joined with state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in trying to recruit candidates, sources familiar with the efforts told CNN. Multiple prominent women in New York got calls, including Adams, the city council speaker, who is of no relation to the mayor. All turned them down. But when a combination of events, including the mayor's top aides resigning in protest in February over how the Trump Justice Department pulled back on the charges he was facing, Adams changed her mind and made a late entrance into race. She has struggled to raise money or gain any public traction, and while James has stuck by her, Stewart-Cousins hasn't said anything publicly about the race. An aide to Stewart-Cousins did not respond to a request for comment. 'The mayoral race has not gotten a lot of traction,' James told CNN in an interview. 'We've not broken through all of the executive orders, the tariffs, the chaos, the confusion, and other corruption. So it's difficult in this climate, this 24-hour media circus.' Both as a former Cuomo colleague and a lifelong Brooklyn resident, James says she knows the clock is ticking. 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That means the next mayor of New York could win without a clear majority of the vote – in a race with multiple candidates facing significant question marks about their candidacies and in what has the possibility of being the first competitive citywide general election in more than two decades, when ranked choice voting will not be a factor in determining the outcome.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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2 people die before a suspected explosive attack in Uganda's capital, authorities say
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda military authorities said two people died before executing a suspected explosive attack near a Catholic shrine in the capital, Kampala. The military said in a statement Tuesday they 'intercepted and neutralized two armed terrorists' in Munyonyo, a Kampala suburb. The deceased were a man and a woman on a passenger motorcycle. The female passenger appeared to explode as a group of security forces tracking the duo drew near the suspects, police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said. Rusoke did not provide more details and said an investigation is underway. Uganda is marking a holiday Tuesday to remember a group of Christian martyrs who were killed between 1885 and 1887 on the orders of a local king. The event attracts pilgrims to a different site near Kampala where dignitaries, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, have gathered for mass. Explosive attacks are rare in Uganda, but authorities sometimes warn of plans by extremist militants opposed to Museveni's government.
