EXCLUSIVE: Internal documents expose prior leadership of Kennedy Center's financial mismanagement

Artists Ben Folds and Jason Moran recently attacked the Center’s new leadership; internal documents show they cost far more than they brought in

President Donald Trump’s financial turnaround of the Kennedy Center is continuing under Ambassador Richard Grenell’s leadership, marking a continued shift away from what Grenell has previously called the “criminal” mismanagement under his predecessors.

Several artists who recently attacked the Center — including Ben Folds and Jason Moran — actually cost the Center far more than they brought in.

According to internal ticket sales numbers, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, several shows booked under prior leadership tanked due to excessive production costs and lack of demand for tickets.

The Center’s numbers show how poorly a lot of performances that had been sanctioned by Grenell’s predecessors did. Ben Folds ended up costing the Center far more than he pulled in over a series of shows dating back to 2022, according to internal calculations.

““Over his tenure at the Kennedy Center, Folds never generated substantial income,” an insider at the Center said. “His last show lost a staggering $123,000.”

“Past programming decisions made at the Kennedy Center show a repeated disregard for fiscal responsibility,” one insider told the Reporter. A lot of shows “had major financial losses for the Center because they lacked broad appeal and as a result, sold few tickets, and spent too much on production.”

In 2024 and 2025, Jason Moran, for example, performed in three concerts that were a net negative of $149,577. According to the Kennedy Center’s calculations, Moran was paid $320,830 in consulting fees during these two seasons. During the same years as Moran, Folds never had a profitable show.

“Under the direction of the new leadership, financial stability is a top priority” of the Kennedy Center, one of its senior staffers, told the Reporter.

“These artists have repeatedly attacked the Kennedy Center’s new leadership when the reality is, their shows didn’t sell tickets,” the insider added. “They may have quit but if you ask us, the Center gained from their loss.”