On Tyranny: Ben Folds Accuses Kennedy Center Ex-Acting Director of Paying Hecklers to ‘Harass’ Yasmin Williams in Testimony to Senators
“I think most of us understand that when
you politicize art, you got propaganda.”
-Ben Folds, speaking to Senate Democrats at a “shadow hearing” on Wednesday
Ben Folds on Wednesday gave impassioned testimony to a panel of Senators about what he called the “toxic” Trump Administration’s “unlawful” changes to the Kennedy Center. The veteran pop icon further accused a high-ranking official who recently departed the organization for paying “hecklers” to “harass” Yasmin Williams as payback for criticizing Trump during a performance at the Center.
Folds made the remarks at a so-called “shadow hearing” staged by Senate Democrats. Because the party is in the minority, it is not legally permitted to conduct a formal hearing like Republican Senators currently are.
The Williams incident traces back to September, when conservatives apparently torched her for the Kenny Center performance.
Folds also spoke about how the National Symphony Orchestra, for which Folds served as appointed the first artistic adviser, strengthened the careers of Sara Bareilles, Jon Batiste and Regina Spektor by providing those musicians with opportunities to collaborate with the orchestra.
Perhaps the most salient quotes of Folds’ testimony were his assertions that “For the first time in history, a president took control of the Kennedy Center’s programming and messaging. The firewall between politics and the center’s nonprofit mission was eliminated. The result was a hyper-politicized environment. Gone was the apolitical sanctuary the Kennedy Center always provided. … I think most of us understand that when you politicize art, you got propaganda.”
Here is the full transcript:
[This transcript has been edited for clarity. Errors may appear, as the transcript was released just minutes ago.]
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the committees.
Thank you for the invitation to speak for you today. My name is Ben Folds. I’ve been a recording artist and a touring artist for 30 years and half my career has been focused on the orchestra. In 2017, I was appointed the first artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, NSO at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, DC, where my role was essentially curatorial.
We sold out shows for eight years straight without compromising the orchestra’s integrity. Contemporary artists like Sara Bareilles, Jon Batiste, Regina Spektor, as well as country artist Jamey Johnson all played their first orchestra shows with us and then carried those scores to perform with other orchestras around the country. It’s a common challenge for orchestras across the U.S. to bring in younger audiences, and their survival depends on this. So, we saw an opportunity there. This is one of the many things that the Kennedy Center and the NSO can lead as a mission-based federal arts institution, not a run-of-the-mill, [for-]profit institution.
Just as our efforts were beginning to make a difference across the country, in February 2025, the Trump administration staged a brutal board takeover. For the first time in history, a president took control of the Kennedy Center’s programming and messaging. The firewall between politics and the center’s nonprofit mission was eliminated.
The result was a hyper-politicized environment. Gone was the apolitical sanctuary the Kennedy Center always provided. During the first Trump administration when I was appointed, I never heard politics discussed in any meetings or gatherings at the center. Everyone involved, including the Trump board, knew we were there to create, educate and showcase art for all Americans, not to further a political agenda. I think most of us understand that when you politicize art, you got propaganda.
With the new partisan toxic environment under the current administration, I could not trust that artists I booked at the Kennedy Center would be safe from retribution if they said or sung something that might displease the president or his political lackey who now controlled the center. I could not perform my job or the mission I was brought on to do. And for this reason, with great sadness, I had no choice but to resign.
These days, if an artist agrees to perform at the Kennedy Center, they risk being seen as explicitly endorsing the Trump administration and all of its policies. Declining an invitation to perform at the Kennedy Center will have an equal and opposite political effect. There may be certain artists who will thrive in this environment. Comedians come to mind. But most want nothing to do with it and will choose to create and perform their art elsewhere. And they are, and audiences are following.
If you take the case of DC-based artist Yasmin Williams, who decided even after the takeover to honor a prior offer to perform at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, exercising her first amendment rights, Yasmin had publicly taken issue with the then center’s Trump loyal executive director. And during her performance, she was aggressively interrupted and heckled, prompting the center’s workers union to call for an investigation into credible allegations that the then-executive director [Richard Grenell] incited and even paid these hecklers to harass her.
So Yasmin had to endure heckling from extremists on the right while also getting grief from the left for even showing up to perform treated if she was a scab crossing a picket line. And you have to marvel at anyone who would believe they could run the business of the Kennedy Center with no prior arts administration experience at all.
And we can see the result has been dwindling audiences, the exit of the Washington National Opera, the dismantling of the National Public Education Outreach Programs, and the demoralization of our National Symphony Orchestra. Many of the NSO privately believe that their jobs are in danger. So, the takeover hobbled the Kennedy Center, broke its once proven successful business model and disrespected its original core mission.
The unlawful addition of the president’s name to the front of the building sent the Kennedy Center into further spiral. And while his name has been removed, thank you, the center’s future and the future of the NSO is still uncertain. Our beloved institution needs to be resuscitated. We need a vibrant Kennedy center whose leadership once again understands how to run its business, who will keep politics checked at the doors, who will ensure that only the most qualified arts administrators are in charge because we can see the damage that is caused when arts are run by politicians rather than people.
I greatly appreciate you hearing me out. I can only hope your concerns can find their ways to the hearts and minds of your colleagues on the other side of the aisle who seem absent today. I used to work with them on various issues bringing people into the arts, and they’re absent now. Here’s hoping that we can get that spirit back.
Following Folds’ remarks, applause erupted among those in attendance.
Check out more On Tyranny installments – featuring Alan Sparhawk, J Robbins, Bobby Conn, Thalia Zedek, Low Cut Connie and more than 100 other artists – in the series archive.
Go to Ben Folds’ Bandcamp page for more information on the musician and his releases.
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