Killing Donald Trump in one of New York’s most prominent theater venues is proving costly.
New York’s Public Theater is currently staging a version of “Julius Caesar” in which the Roman ruler is unmistakably depicted as Donald Trump. Caesar wears a dark suit, sports an elaborate blond hairdo, wears an overly-long red tie and gestures in very Trump-like ways. His cadence elicits laughter for its similarity to Trump’s. His wife speaks with an eastern European accent.
And each night on the stage in Central Park, this Trump-Caesar is stabbed to death in a bloody attacked by a gang of conspiring senators.
On a recent summer evening, the New York City audience in the outdoor theater loved it. But it was too much for two of the Public Theater’s corporate donors. Delta Airlines and Bank of America have now pulled their sponsorship.
“No matter what your political stance may be, the graphic staging of ‘Julius Caesar’ at this summer’s free Shakespeare in the Park does not reflect Delta Air Lines’ values,” Delta said in a statement.
Bank of America is also pulling it financial support from the production of “Julius Caesar.” The bank said it would continue its financial support with the theater.
“The Public Theater chose to present ‘Julius Caesar’ in a way that was intended to provoke and offend,” a spokesperson for the bank told the New York Times. “Had this intention been made known to us, we would have decided not to sponsor it. We are withdrawing our funding for this production.”
American corporations have been becoming more active in recent months when it comes to withdrawing support from controversial cultural work, often claiming the work “does not reflect our values.” Both conservative and liberal outlets have been hit with boycotts, sponsorship withdrawals, and similar moves over the past year.
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