A Kennedy Center official said that Ric Grenell had ‘no involvement’ in a recent heckling incident. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Yasmin Williams, an Alexandria, Va.-based, internationally acclaimed guitarist, has accused members of the D.C. chapter of the gay GOP group Log Cabin Republicans of disrupting her Sept. 18 performance at the Kennedy Center by booing and heckling her.
Williams posted her account of the incident on Facebook, writing, “This is clearly a calculated attempt to intimidate and harass me at my own show, as well as the staff working the show. This is completely unacceptable and I will not allow this to go unnoticed. I will not be harassed and intimidated by anyone, especially these folks. Please share this post. If they would do this to me, they would do this to you… to anyone! Don’t let fascism go unchecked. Power to the people!”
According to reports by Washingtonian magazine and the Washington Post, booing and hissing by about 20 or more Log Cabin members or others began at the start of Williams’s free concert at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage after she said she does not support the Trump administration’s recently appointed leadership team at the Kennedy Center.
“I do not support the new board at all. I don’t support anyone affiliated with them,” the Post quoted her as saying at the start of her performance.
“I don’t support anyone affiliated with the Trump administration at all, especially you, Ric Grenell,” the Post quoted her as saying. Those comments drew “some applause and boos,” the Post reported.
Williams was referring to Richard ‘Ric’ Grenell, the longtime gay Republican activist, former national Log Cabin Republicans leader, and longtime Trump supporter, who Trump appointed in February as the new Kennedy Center president.
D.C. Log Cabin Republicans President Andrew Minik did not immediately respond to a request from the Washington Blade for comment on the Log Cabin presence at the Kennedy Center on Sept. 18.
In response to a similar request by the Blade for comment sent by email, the Kennedy Center sent the Blade an excerpt from the Washington Post story about the Log Cabin-Williams interaction that quotes from a statement Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi sent to the Post.
“This is an absolutely ridiculous claim,” Daravi’s statement says. “They did not heckle and frankly it is defamation of character for her to say that,” she told the Post in her statement. “Republicans are patrons too and they are welcome at the Kennedy Center just like everyone else,” she said.
Information about D.C. Log Cabin’s plans to attend the Williams performance surfaced on Sept. 16 when Minik sent an email on behalf of the group to its members announcing that the location of the group’s regularly scheduled September meeting had been moved to the Kennedy Center’s rooftop restaurant.
“Thanks to the Kennedy Center’s generosity, we will enjoy an open bar and an unforgettable evening together,” he wrote. “To make the night even more special, members are invited to arrive early for the 6:00 p.m. Millennium Stage performance by Yasmin Williams – with complimentary tickets provided,” Minik said in his email.
He added in his message that the meeting scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. would still be joined by its previously scheduled guest speakers, U.S. House members Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.).
In a follow-up email sent on the day of the meeting, Sept. 18, Minik reminded members to arrive early for the performance by Williams, who he said is an “apparently vocal opponent of President Trump and the Kennedy Center’s decision to hold a vigil for Charlie Kirk.” Minik added, “Let’s make sure the audience is filled with patriots!”
The Post reported that Williams said a brief period of booing, which could be heard in a live-streamed video posted by the Kennedy Center, was the only disruption of her performance. She said the “hecklers” left the area after about 15 minutes into her show, the Post reports.
Washingtonian reports that Williams told the publication she became alarmed when “security officers” showed up shortly before she appeared on stage, leading her to believe she could be in danger due to hostile audience members.
“There were about 20 guys in suits, and some of them were wearing MAGA hats,” Washingtonian quoted her as saying. “They booed and heckled me” she is quoted as saying. “They tried to derail my concert, but fortunately they were outnumbered,” she told Washingtonian, adding after about 15 minutes the “protesters” relocated to a different area away from the concert.
In her message to the Post, which her office sent to the Blade, Kennedy Center spokesperson Daravi stated, “This is an absolutely ridiculous claim.”
Daravi added that there were no security concerns related to Williams’s performance.
“There was no coordinated effort by the Kennedy Center. Grenell had no involvement. We did not even know they were coming,” her statement sent to the Blade says.
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