Report: Norman
Lear to Skip White House Kennedy Center Reception to Spite Trump
by Jerome Hudson 4 Aug 2017
Television
legend Norman Lear is reportedly
declining to attend the 2017 Kennedy Center
Honors at the White House, at
which he is expected to be awarded for his work, in a show of protest against
President Donald Trump.
According to the a New York Times report,
the veteran TV writer behind television classics like All in the
Family and The Jeffersons will not attend the
annual pre-ceremony gala scheduled for December 3, where he is expected to be
honored for his lifetime contributions to American culture.
Lear cited the president’s proposed cuts to the
National Endowment of the Arts as one reason why he may miss the event.
“This is a presidency that has chosen to neglect totally
the arts and humanities — deliberately defund them — and that doesn’t rest pleasantly
with me,” Lear said.
Executive producer and creator Norman Lear seen at
“The Power of TV: A Conversation with Norman Lear and Netflix original series
‘One Day at a Time’ ” ATAS Panel at the Wolf Theater at Saban Media Center on
Monday, June 19, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Blair Raughley/Invision for Netflix/AP
Images)
Justina Machado and Executive Producer Norman Lear
seen at Netflix “One Day at a Time” S1 Premiere After Party at The London West
Hollywood on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Steve
Cohn/Invision for Netflix/AP Images)
Lear later told Variety however, that if
the president’s policies change, he may in fact attend the glitzy reception.
“Maybe that will cause me to change my mind,” Lear said.
To be sure, Lear has been an outspoken critic of
President Trump.
In a January 2016 interview with the Hollywood
Reporter, Lear cast doubts that Trump would win the election.
“I have enough confidence in the American people to
believe that Trump is the middle finger of their right hand,” Lear told the
outlet. “He is [the right’s] f— you to all the clowns and the establishment
generally because [they believe] the leadership of the country is at an
all-time low.”
Last September, Lear compared the then-GOP candidate to
fictional All in the Family character Archie Bunker.
“Archie Bunker was far wiser of heart” than Mr. Trump,
Lear told The
Daily Beast. “Sure, the thoughts he held were antediluvian. But
Donald Trump is a thorough fool.”
The 85-year-old producer isn’t the only star using the
White House gala for political protest.
Singer Gloria Estefan is set to be honored at the White
House reception and told the Times she will use the event to lobby
President Trump on immigration.
“Mr. President, as a proud immigrant of this country,
it’s very important for me that you see the wonderful contributions we have
made,” the seven-time Grammy-winner says she intends to tell the
president, adding that the gala will be the “perfect opportunity to make clear
and express” her political views.
Rapper-actor LL Cool J, singer Lionel Richie, and
dancer Carmen de Lavallade will also be honored, the John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts announced Thursday.
LL Cool J, however, told the Times that
he doesn’t plan on making any political stunts.
“I don’t have any stunts planned. I’m not saying I need
to be there backslapping and all of that, but this time, this one ain’t about
him,” the rapper-actor said of President Trump. “I’m not going to block my
blessings or let the political divide stop me from embracing my art. I’m
banking on the goodness and the optimism of people to say: ‘You know what? I
get it. Let this guy have this honor.'”
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are expected
to attend the event, which will be broadcast on December 26 on CBS.
Norman Lear
Norman
Lear is a director at the People for
the American Way, the president for the Lear Family Foundation, married to Lyn Davis Lear, and was a donor for The Climate Project.
Note: Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the People for the American Way, the Sundance Institute, and the Climate
Reality Project.
George
Soros was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Lear
Family Foundation was a funder for the People
for the American Way, and a donor for the Movement Resource Group.
Movement
Resource Group was a funder for the Occupy
Movement.
Occupy Wall
Street is the initial protest for the Occupy
Movement.
Lyn Davis Lear
is a director at the Lear Family Foundation,
married to Norman Lear, and a
trustee at the Sundance Institute.
Robert Redford
is the founder & president for the Sundance
Institute, and was a 2005 Kennedy
Center Honoree Recipient.
Kennedy Center Honors
Recipients
2005 Kennedy Center Honorees Julie Harris, Robert
Redford, Tina Turner, Suzanne Farrell, and Tony
Bennett, with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, in the Blue
Room at the White House, December 4, 2005.
The Climate
Project was a merged organization with the Climate Reality Project.
Albert A. Gore Jr.
is the chairman for the Climate Reality
Project, and was a donor for The
Climate Project.
Norman
Lear was a donor for The Climate
Project, is a director at the People
for the American Way, the president for the Lear Family Foundation, and married to Lyn Davis Lear.
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