The newly-appointed head of artistic programming at the Kennedy Center has resigned, just days after his appointment was announced.
The Kennedy Center – which has been embroiled in a political controversy since President Donald Trump took control of it last year – announced that Kevin Couch would become its new senior vice president of artistic programming in a January 16 news release, sharing the announcement again on January 22 on X.
But less than a week after announcing his appointment, Couch resigned.
The former director of programming for ATG Entertainment, who said in the news release that he was “honored to join the Trump Kennedy Center at such a pivotal moment for the performing arts,” confirmed his resignation to The Washington Post on Wednesday. Couch declined to comment further.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
Couch’s quick exit comes as the Kennedy Center faces a slew of cancellations from artists amid Trump’s controversial takeover. The president ousted board members he hadn’t appointed and added several new members, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Second Lady Usha Vance. At the time, he said he was on a mission to remove “woke” programming from the center.
The Trump-appointed members of the board then voted in December to rename the historical institution the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Changes came quickly after the vote, with the building’s signage immediately altered to reflect the new name, despite scholars saying such a change requires approval by Congress.
In the days following, Democrats in Congress acted to try to reverse the decision.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. in December asking the judge to void the vote, which she said surpassed the board’s statutory authority.
“Because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires an act of Congress,” the lawsuit states, adding that “Congress intended the Center to be a living memorial to President Kennedy — and a crown jewel of the arts for all Americans, irrespective of party.”
Also in December, Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat, introduced a bill that would remove Trump’s name from the center. The legislation received support from over 70 lawmakers.
In the wake of the decision, several artists have pulled out from upcoming performances at the center, including prize-winning composer Philip Glass, who was scheduled to play at the center in June.
“Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony,” Glass said in a statement released Tuesday by his publicist. “Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”
Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of public relations, told the Associated Press, “We have no place for politics in the arts, and those calling for boycotts based on politics are making the wrong decision.”
While many performances at the Kennedy Center have been canceled in recent months, a premiere of the first lady’s controversial documentary, Melania, will be held at the center Thursday.
Melania is predicted to have a poor opening weekend at the box office. While President Trump has claimed the movie is a “MUST WATCH,” the film is only expected to earn between $1 and $5 million, despite costing Amazon $75 billion to acquire and promote.
Despite the president’s claims that tickets for Melania were “selling out, FAST,” publicly visible ticket sales at theaters across major U.S. and U.K. cities showed otherwise.
