Ben Folds Admits It’s Hard to Reason Why He Didn’t Stay at Kennedy Center to Combat Trump | Video

Ben Folds reflected on his decision to step down as the artistic adviser of the Kennedy Center’s National Symphony Orchestra earlier this year, telling MeidasTouch Sunday that it’s a choice that he knows was right, but he still struggles to articulate why.

Folds served as the first artistic adviser for the NSO from 2019 to 2025, but he resigned following the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center in February.

“I know I did the right thing,” Folds said.

The musician explained that while he’s “not used to messaging this sort of thing,” he’s spent several years advocating for arts funding in the United States, but he could no longer remain in the role at the Kennedy Center because “what I saw was an abuse of power, a very extreme one.”

“There was why I resigned, and then there’s kind of the other question that I think people want answered, which is, ‘Why not stay?'” he shared.

Watch the musician’s interview below:

“People might not realize how the arts work in the government, but it’s very separated from the art itself. The government, artists and politics is separated with a firewall from what we say, how we say it, who says it — that’s up to the people,” he continued.

“And the firewall was breached in the biggest way. I mean, [Trump] let go of the board, which was bipartisan. Once the board was gone, installed loyalists, the loyalists came in and voted in — guess who — Trump to be the chairman, the head of the Kennedy Center.”

The situation was “alarming,” Folds said, “because now he can put, or they can put their fist on the scale of what is programmed, who gets to speak and who doesn’t get to speak at our greatest arts institution, the Kennedy Center.”

“The thing I have a hard time explaining to people is why not stay and sort of fight it out,” Folds admitted, turning to MeidasTouch co-founder and interviewer for the video Ben Meiselas. “And I think I can really use some coaching on this because I know I did the right thing.”

Meiselas agreed. “My thought is, is that you don’t want to be used as a puppet for the regime, and they’re going to use someone like you with your distinguished career,” he said. “And they’re going to say, look, Ben Fold supports me, you know, take a look at what Trump does.”

“What he loves the most is celebrity,” Meiselas continued. “And when he just has Kid Rock over and over and over again, he wants Ben Folds to say, look, here’s an artist with kind of deep intellectual roots who supports me, and if Ben Folds supports you, you should too. So that’s my belief about why you have to leave because you’re just used as a prop.”

Trump was elected as Kennedy Center Board Chair in February. “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces executive leadership changes, effective immediately. At a Kennedy Center Board meeting this afternoon, the Board elected President of the United States Donald J. Trump as Kennedy Center Board Chair, replacing former Chair David M. Rubenstein. The Board also terminated Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter’s contract and announced Richard Grenell as interim Kennedy Center President,” the Center announced in a press release at the time.

“Fourteen new Kennedy Center Board of Trustee members were also announced today including President Donald J. Trump, Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, Allison Lutnick, Lynda Lomangino, Mindy Levine, Usha Vance, Pamela Gross, John Falconetti, Cheri Summerall, Sergio Gor, Emilia May Fanjul, Patricia Duggan, Dana Blumberg, bringing the total number of board members to 31.”

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