Whoopi Goldberg won't go to Kennedy Center until it’s ‘what it was supposed to be’ amid Trump's takeover

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Whoopi Goldberg has made it clear she has no plans to return to the Kennedy Center following former President Donald Trump’s takeover.

'The View' co-host criticized Trump’s decision to remove much of the board and install his own supporters, saying it no longer represents what the center was meant to be.

Whoopi Goldberg says ‘it was a big smack to the arts’

During a discussion on 'The View' on Thursday, March 6, Whoopi Goldberg and her co-hosts talked with 'Hamilton' producers Jeffrey Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda about canceling the musical’s planned 2026 run at the Kennedy Center.

The move came after Trump named himself chair and removed bipartisan board members.

"The fact that it wasn’t a discussion, it was a big smack to the arts — which don’t have a politics. The politics are, look at the differences in the actors. That’s the real statement," said Goldberg on 'The View.'

Trump said at the time of the change, "We’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going be woke," as per The Hill.

Richard Grenell, Trump’s newly-installed interim director, has criticized the 'Hamilton' cancellation, calling it a "publicity stunt that will backfire."

Whoopi Goldberg says she will not return until the Kennedy Center is ‘a welcome place for all artists’

Whoopi Goldberg, who received the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2001, expressed support for the 'Hamilton' producers’ decision. "So I understand why they did it," Goldberg said on the talkshow. 

She then declared she would not return to the Kennedy Center unless it becomes inclusive again.

"I have no plans to go back to the Kennedy Center until the Kennedy Center becomes what it was supposed to be, and that was a welcome place for all artists, no matter what your groove is," Goldberg said.

She also criticized Trump’s removal of bipartisan board members and replacement with his own allies. "They didn’t make judgments about the people that they put in," she added.

Changes at the Kennedy Center led to high-profile departures

The changes at the Kennedy Center have led to other high-profile departures and cancellations.

Shonda Rhimes resigned as treasurer after Donald Trump named himself chair.

Singer Ben Folds also stepped down from his role as artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra.

Meanwhile, actress Issa Rae canceled her sold-out upcoming appearance at the Kennedy Center in protest, as per The Daily Beast.

The controversy continues as comedian Conan O’Brien is set to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize on March 23.

Goldberg, who has attended the Kennedy Center Honors event several times in recent years, last appeared at the annual ceremony in 2023.