U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend "Les Miserables" opening night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT
A top Trump ally lashed out at a CNN reporter on Thursday evening over her reporting on President Donald Trump's appearance at the popular "Les Misérables" musical.
Richard "Ric" Grenell, White House special envoy for special missions who Trump tapped for president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, took to X on Thursday evening to air a public grievance about Kit Maher's article. Grenell took specific issue with the following paragraph in the report:
Trump was asked while entering the venue about a previous CNN report that at least 10 to 12 cast members planned to boycott the performance due to his appearance. While it was not immediately clear how many cast members followed through on those plans, Trump said he was unbothered.
"Pathetic reporting from @KitMaherCNN," said Grenell on the platform X. "She fails to apologize for pushing fake news weeks ago and still can’t correct herself now. Instead, she says it wasn’t immediately clear if she was right. Lol. Hint: she was wrong and should have issued a correction. Not journalism."
Grenell's lash out comes after CNN exclusively reported, citing anonymous sources, last month that at least 10-12 members of the musical planned to boycott the show at the Kennedy Center. That report was authored by Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, Shania Shelton and Steve Contorno.
"The cast was given the option to not perform the night Trump will be in the audience, and both major cast members and members of the ensemble are among those sitting out, according to the sources," the original report said.
Grennell told CNN at the time he was not aware that some cast members planned to boycott.
"Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed," he said at the time. "In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire – and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience. The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoys a performance together.”