"WASHINGTON, DC - Local activists and artists gathered in 18th-century French court attire in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, January 29, to protest the premiere of Melania (2026), one of the most expensive nonfiction film acquisitions on record. Of the $75 million Amazon paid for the film, about $28 million went directly to the Trump family. Wigged and dripping in fake jewels, approximately 40 members of Free DC and Hands Off the Arts denounced the critically panned documentary about the First Lady, holding signs that read "Let them eat Whole Foods," "Let them eat cake," and "Authoritarianism - get it faster with Prime.""
"Gathered around a cardboard three-tier cake and raising plastic champagne glasses, they cheered and rang bells as an organizer blared into a megaphone: "When loan forgiveness is cut, when crop prices soar and people have to choose between rent and medications and food, our dear queen Melania says 'Let them eat cake.'" Days later, on Sunday, President Trump announced that the Kennedy Center - which now bears his name on its facade - will close for two years for renovations starting in July. While the protest was originally planned for the Kennedy Center Plaza, police and Secret Service had erected fences keeping people a block away from the physical buildings, checking tickets before letting visitors through. So the demonstrators assembled at Triangle Park, a small grassy inlet at the nearby turnabout, shouting at black armored SUVs driving past."
Local activists and artists gathered in 18th-century French court attire outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on January 29 to protest the premiere of Melania (2026). Amazon paid $75 million for the film, with about $28 million going directly to the Trump family. About 40 members of Free DC and Hands Off the Arts held signs reading "Let them eat Whole Foods," "Let them eat cake," and "Authoritarianism - get it faster with Prime." Protesters cheered around a cardboard cake, raised plastic champagne glasses, and used a megaphone to criticize policy impacts while invoking Melania. Police and Secret Service erected fences, pushing the demonstration to nearby Triangle Park. President Trump announced a two-year closure of the Kennedy Center starting in July.
Read at Hyperallergic
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