John Lithgow says Trump's return is biggest 'disaster' for the arts since COVID-19

Fox News

09-04-2025

Actor John Lithgow blasted President Donald Trump's second term in office as a "disaster" for the arts in remarks on Sunday.
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.
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.
"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.
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.