LIVe Nation elected president of Kennedy Center and Donald Trump Ally Richard Grenell To its board of directors, according to a recent disclosure of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Grenell was appointed to lead the center of the performing arts belonging to the federal government in February following a reshuffle led by Trump who saw the president himself president of Kennedy Center Board. He was at the same time active director of the American national intelligence and ambassador to Germany during the first presidential term of Trump, becoming the first openly gay official at the level of the cabinet to serve an American president.
The appointment of Grenell to Live Nation intervenes while the concert promoter is sailing in an ongoing antitrust trial brought by the United States Ministry of Justice. President of the company Joe Berchtold told investors in February that he hoped that the new assistant American prosecutor for Antitrust Gail Slater was open to settle the file without forcing the break of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, that the former attorney general Merrick Garland had called.
“Is there a path to a resolution with the Doj who does not lead to the trial?” Berchtold said in an investor call in February, weeks before Slater was officially sworn in. “We haven’t had any discussions yet.
The files also show that Live Nation has donated $ 500,000 to the Trump inauguration committee.
Grenell would be a faithful ally of Trump who was also a special envoy to Serbia and Kosovo during Trump’s first term. A graduate of Harvard, he was first appointed by former president George W. Bush to represent the United States Department of State at the United Nations.
Trump hit Grenell to lead the Kennedy Center in February after shooting Deborah F. RutterWho directed the prestigious center of the show arts for more than a decade. On Monday, during a White House speech, Grenell accused Rutter of “fraud” for financial mismanagement of the Kennedy Center, declaring: “It is criminal. We will refer it to the office of the American prosecutor. ”
Rutter replied, publishing a statement that said in part: “I am deeply disturbed by the false allegations concerning the management of Kennedy Center made by people without context or expertise to understand the complexities involved in the management of organizations and non -profit arts.”
