Final week, on September 18, Yasmin Williams carried out on the John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts. Regardless of having beforehand had a heated email exchange with Kennedy Middle president Richard Grenell, Williams said that she felt it was necessary to play “the present for all of the Kennedy Middle workers who fashioned their very own union and are nonetheless working there, preventing to keep up the establishment’s integrity.”
In the course of the live performance, which took place on the Washington, D.C., middle’s Millennium Stage, Williams was heckled by an organized group of Log Cabin Republicans, she said on-line. “Throughout my Kennedy Middle present on Thursday evening, a bunch of Tr*mp supporters boo’d me once I talked about Ric Grenell and gave the impression to be there to intimidate me,” Williams wrote on social media. She additionally shared screenshots of an obvious e-mail despatched out by Andrew Minik, the president of the group’s Washington, D.C., chapter, imploring members to “ensure that the viewers is stuffed with patriots!”
Throughout her present, which is offered to look at in full beneath, Williams reiterated her assist for Kennedy Middle workers and criticized the group’s board of trustees, a bunch that was put collectively by President Donald J. Trump after he made himself the middle’s new chairman.
“I don’t assist the brand new board in any respect; I don’t assist anybody affiliated with them; I don’t assist anybody affiliated with the Trump administration in any respect—particularly you, Ric Grenell,” Williams stated. “I’m not a fan of yours in any respect.” Applause and boos might be heard within the video, too.
After the present, Williams wrote on social media that her “security was threatened” and that safety “escorted [her] to [her] automotive to maintain [her] protected.” She additionally advised Washingtonian concerning the obvious hecklers. “They booed and heckled me,” she stated. “They tried to derail my live performance, however luckily they have been outnumbered.”
In an e-mail to The Washington Post, Kennedy Middle spokesperson Roma Daravi disputed Williams’ claims concerning the organized efforts to disrupt her efficiency. “That is a completely ridiculous declare,” Daravi wrote. “There was no coordinated effort by the Kennedy Middle. Grenell had no involvement. We didn’t even know they have been coming.”
Daravi additionally claimed that Log Cabin Republican members “didn’t heckle and admittedly it’s defamation of character for her [Yasmin Williams] to say that—she nevertheless bashed Grenell and the Middle from the Kennedy Middle stage. Republicans are patrons too and they’re welcome on the Kennedy Middle similar to anybody else.”
