Kennedy Center executive accuses Grenell of firing him over resurfaced comments
Floyd Brown, recently appointed vice president of teh John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, claims he was fired shortly after a CNN reporter inquired about old comments he made regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Brown stated that his comments, rooted in his Christian beliefs, had no bearing on his professional interactions or work at the center. He sought clarification from Richard Grenell, the center’s president, but received no response. In contrast, sources from the Kennedy Center refuted Brown’s allegations, asserting that Grenell was not involved in his hiring. Brown’s controversial remarks resurfaced in a video where he criticized the Republican National Committee’s leadership under Ken Mehlman, who he saeid was “openly homosexual,” suggesting this influenced the party’s stance on traditional marriage. This incident highlights ongoing tensions surrounding LGBTQ+ issues within political and cultural institutions, especially under recent leadership changes at the Kennedy center.
Kennedy Center executive accuses Grenell of firing him over resurfaced comments
The former vice president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said he was fired for comments about same-sex marriage after a CNN reporter reached out about it.
Floyd Brown was appointed vice president of the Kennedy Center last month and served under the center’s president, Richard Grenell. The decision to fire him came two hours after CNN contacted Brown and asked about past statements he made online regarding his views on homosexuality, according to a post on X by Brown.
“Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues who do incredible work for the patrons of the Center,” Brown said to CNN and in his post on X.
Brown said he requested to speak with Grenell and asked for an explanation of his dismissal, but he was ignored.
A source familiar with the Kennedy Center disputed the accuracy of Brown’s claim. The Kennedy Center also said CNN reported Grenell was not involved in Brown’s hiring and didn’t know him at all.
Some of the comments Brown made resurfaced on X in a video of him speaking at a Christian event in 2023. In the video, Brown refers to Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007, as “openly homosexual,” and said he tried to fill the RNC with homosexual staff.
“And that’s why we never make any progress on family issues,” Brown says in the video. “Activists at the local level, we wonder, why aren’t our Republican members of Congress fighting for traditional marriage? Because they’ve got three staff members who are against it, and that impacts them. And it’s a dirty little secret that nobody wants to share.”
Brown said these were among the comments that got him fired, according to an X post by Next News Network.
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One of Trump’s goals since taking office again has been to revamp the Kennedy Center, according to the Washington Post. In February, Trump fired Deborah F. Rutter, the center’s former president, and appointed himself as the new chairman, according to the New York Times.
The center also lost money last year, to which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded with, “The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke.”
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