MSNBC
@msnow·9.6M subscribers·117.7K videos
Chaos, corruption, ‘astronomical’ prices: Fmr. Kennedy Center curator gives inside account
Posted
April 18, 2026
Views
16,806
Likes
484
Comments
362
Engagement
5.03%
April 18, 2026
16,806
484
362
5.03%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
9:05Now PlayingA former Kennedy Center curator recounts cronyism and chaos over the course of his 10 months working under Richard Grenell in an interview with MS NOW’s Jackie Alemany. Among the red flags he witnessed: after a decision was made to start selling sponsorships of the center's lounges, Grenell aggressively pitched those in attendance at an Oct. 7 commemoration to donate money if they wanted to prevent the Israeli lounge from being given away to a new donor.
In his words, "Grenell essentially wagged a finger in the face of all those who were gathered to observe a very solemn, tragic event. And he wagged a finger at them and said... if you want this to remain the Israeli lounge, then you need to pony up the money to do so. And reaction in the room, I was personally mortified because my remarks had to follow his in talking to people after the event."
MS NOW: My Source for News, Opinion, and the World.
» Subscribe to MS NOW
» Subscribe to MS NOW’s We the People Newsletter for exclusive content from your favorite MS NOW anchors. Sign up now for free at
MS NOW is the goto destination for domestic and international breaking news, and bestinclass opinion journalism. For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of our day click here
#Trump #KennedyCenter #Politics
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
