A contract worker at the Kennedy Center has been fired after posting a naked protest video condemning President Donald Trump’s controversial takeover of the venue.
In the 35-minute long video posted to X and YouTube, 32-year-old Tavish Forsyth, associate artistic lead for the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute at the center, stripped naked and told their viewers they felt “angry and confused.”
Forsyth delivered an emotionally charged speech with the overarching message: “F--- Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center.”
Forsyth asked if they should continue working at the cultural institution, or if doing so would make them a “collaborator” or “somehow complicit” in “a hostile government takeover.”
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center told the New York Post that Forsyth was fired soon after the video was posted.
The Daily Beast reached out to Forsyth for comment.
Forsyth filmed the clip in what appears to be a bedroom after Trump’s recent overhaul of the Kennedy Center, which saw him install himself as head of the board.
The fired contract worker lashed out at the move, saying the government takeover “is systematically targeting the livelihood and liberty of poor people, queer people, Black and brown people, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, victims in war-torn countries, victims of ethnic cleansing, women.”
Forsyth, who is queer, acknowledged that people will think they’ve lost the plot over the naked protest, but said that ultimately, they don’t care.
“Now that I’ve said all this, people will name me radical. Crazy. Antifa. Terrorist. Pot-smoking hippie. Whatever the f---,” Forsyth went on. “To which I say: f--- it.”
They added: “Oppression is the mask of fear. I will not hide behind the mask.”
Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations at the Kennedy Center, told the New York Post the video was “extremely disturbing” and that it “does not represent the values of the Kennedy Center.”
“Most concerning of all, his contracted position was specifically to work with minors,” said Daravi. “Who knows what kind of radical ideology they have been pushing on the youth. Not anymore. They’re fired.”
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Forsyth said the Kennedy Center “is one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.”
“Specifically with my team, the Opera Institute, there was just so much love and support, and a sincere commitment to reimagine the ways that we create art, and also to take a really critical look at some of the more problematic ways that we’ve created art in the past.”
They added that “any implication that I am corrupting the youth is laughably false, intentionally misleading, and is underscored by decades of hate targeted at LGBTQ+ educators.”
The New York Times reported that Trump made his first visit to the Kennedy Center on Monday after installing himself as chairman last month. He suggested a few design changes, including covering its signature columns with marble or granite.
“The whole place needs work,” he said.
