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An employee at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. was fired on Thursday after he published a 35-minute nude protest video against President Donald Trump.
Tavish Forsyth – a contractor for the Kennedy Center’s WNO Opera Institute – protested Trump’s takeover of the board in a 35-minute video titled, “Trump Declares War on Artists | Do I Quit the Kennedy Center?”
In the video, Forsyth sat completely nude with only a small rainbow heart to cover his penis as he debated the pros and cons of leaving his job at the center, now chaired by Trump after the president replaced members of the board with his own allies, including Second Lady Usha Vance and Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
“Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center and that’s the place where I work,” said Forsyth, who also posted an uncensored version of the video with his penis and testicles on full display:
In this episode, I’m gonna talk about whether or not I should quit. I’m gonna ask, does staying make me a collaborator or somehow complicit in a hostile government takeover that’s systematically targeting the livelihood and liberty of poor people, queer people, black/brown people, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, victims in war-torn countries, ethnic cleansing, women? And gosh, when I put it that way it seems obvious. Fuck Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center! But on the other hand, is staying holding the line and living to fight another day? Do I take up space and defend the vision for this institution that is diverse and inclusive unlike Trump’s vision for America?
Forsyth’s decision was quickly made for him as he was fired just one day after the video was posted, with the Kennedy Center condemning his “extremely disturbing” protest.
“The video is extremely disturbing considering this individual worked with minors,” said Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
Forsyth hit back with his own statement, writing, “Any implication that I am corrupting the youth is laughably false, intentionally misleading, and is underscored by decades of hate targeted at LGBTQ+ educators.”
This week, just days after Vice President JD Vance was booed during a concert, Trump held his first board meeting from the presidential box at the Kennedy Center.
