As has been widely reported, the November 18th performance of Hamilton closed out with a quickly-prepared speech read by Brandon Victor Dixon and directed at vice president-elect Mike Pence, who was in attendance that night.
Reaction to the speech — a plea to the new administration to “uphold our American values” — dominated social media over the weekend, and Donald Trump himself took to Twitter several times to trot out his particular brand of outrage and demand that the cast of the “overrated” show apologize immediately.
Related: Was Founding Father Alexander Hamilton Bisexual? His Letters Suggest So.
Dixon appeared on CBS This Morning to defend his speech and explained why he has no reason to apologize to Trump:
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The resonant nature of the show throughout the world, throughout the global community, demands that we make statements when there are important issues I think facing us as a community. We wanted to stand up and spread a message of love and unity considering all of the emotional outpour since the election.”
Dixon says he delivered the speech to express the cast’s feelings about Trump’s election and the fact that his proposed administration has left everyone feeling “alarmed and anxious.”
Related: And Christ Did Hurl: The Awkward Moment Trump Tried To Kiss Running Mate Mike Pence
On Twitter, Trump decried Dixon’s “terrible behavior” and chastised the cast, who he feels “harassed” Mike Pence.
Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016
Later in the interview, Dixon said, “Art is meant to bring people together, it’s meant to raise consciousness. We welcome Donald Trump here to Hamilton.”
Mike Pence made an appearance on Fox News Sunday and discussed the incident, saying that he “enjoyed the show” and “wasn’t offended.”
Related: “I’m Coming Out As Gay Because Of Donald Trump”
“I know this is a very disappointing time for people that did not see their candidate win in this national election,” he said. “I know this is a very anxious time for some people.”
“I just want to reassure people that what Donald Trump said on Election Night, he absolutely meant from the bottom of his heart.”
Unfortunately, Pence dropped no hint as to where Trump’s heart could be located.
Watch Brandon Victor Dixon’s interview here:
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BriBri
It’s rather poetic that the Founding Father responsible for the Electoral College was Alexander Hamilton. The very method that elected Donald Trump~! Read it and weep Brandon, oh never mind you already are.
Franklin
@BriBri: The only one that seems to be weaping about this is Donald Trump. It’s also ironic that the left gets accused of needing safe spaces yet the Don, goes and rants on Twitter about how theaters should be a safe space.
xica
I certainly hope that they do not apologize. There is no reason to do so.
biggdaddysd
Expression of the message is fine.
The method was unprofessional
PoetDaddy
“…which I hear is highly overrated.” CLASSIC Trump. Meanwhile, nobody is talking about the Tweet where he disses the Tump University plaintiffs for settling for far less $$ than they would have gotten if they went through with their suit. What a loser. The #LoserPresident
bobnla
Mike Pence was not thin-skinned at all. Interesting that Queerty needs to embellish the story with that lying assumption. It was Brandon Dixon who was rude and obstreperous. Call it correctly, please rather than create something to ‘prove’ your narrative.
He BGB
Shouldnt it be “whom he feels harrassed” instead of who he feels…
Anyway, the only problem I have with the speech is he’s pointing a finger (literally) whIle speaking which is like a parent getting onto a child, wagging that finger, otherwise I liked the speech.
Donald, please make all the apologies to people you have offended before telling the cast to apologize.
batesmotel
Trashy Hamilton group. That’s all I can say. Regardless if you agree with Mike Pence’s politics or not, which I don’t, but I don’t hate him and I certainly wouldn’t stoop so low as to embarrass myself and behave so disgustingly. The guy goes to be entertained with his family and instead he’s disrespected. Low class is what these low level insignificant actors are.
shoutinthedark
@bobnla: The headline and the article itself never referred to Vice President elect Pence having a thin skin; they even mentioned Pence not being offended in the article. They did, however, mention President elect TRUMP being thin skinned in both the headline and the article. #MakeAmericaReadBeforeCommentingAgain
Also, you telling a gay news site to stop having a liberal bias makes as much sense as me telling Fox News to quit having a right wing bias. You and I both know that’s not gonna stop happening as a result of internet comments. A site that’s specifically intended for a gay male audience isn’t going to sugarcoat it when they feel like political candidates might pose a threat to their way of life.
highestbidder
@bobnla: in vagueness they said Mr. Trump was thin skinned not Mr. Pence. The cast didn’t say anything bad to Mr. Pence and he’s been reserved in his reaction to the incident. It’s a little odd (ok it’s extremely bizarre) for the cast to call out to a departing audience member and deliver a message in this manner, so I can understand Mr. Trump’s vexation but sometimes it’s ok to be pissed off privately.
highestbidder
Ooops in fairness not vagueness lol
Alistair Wiseman
This is the same man who responded to Trump’s tweet by saying that his lecture from the stage was a “dialogue”. Lecturing a captive audience is NOT a dialogue.
He states, “We wanted to stand up and spread a message of love and unity….” Well, you could start by letting white people audition from your show. Sending out a casting notice for “Non-White” actors is not exactly embracing your libral mantra about diversity.
‘Hamilton’ lead actor and creator tweeted about President-elect Trump, “First National Fuckface”.
Mature.
https://regated.com/2016/11/racism-broadway-hamilton-white-people-audition/
Xzamilloh
@Alistair Wiseman: “Captive”? Oh, come now, that’s a loaded term and you know it. They could have left at any time, including Pence.
Alistair Wiseman
@Xzamilloh:
Captive: one held in the grip of a strong emotion or passion.
(There is more than one definition.)
Charlie in Charge
This Trump fellow sure is a thin-skinned crybaby isn’t he?
Bob LaBlah
Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. Eartha Kitt’s career never recovered after her outburst regarding the Vietnam War. I hope his career doesn’t follow her’s but knowing how vindictive Trump is I think the guy should consider himself finished on Broadway once this shows inevitable end arrives.
http://www.thevisibilityproject.com/2015/04/09/never-forget-004-eartha-kitt-made-lady-bird-johnson-cry-and-got-blackballed-for-it/
dwes09
@Alistair Wiseman: 1. Nobody likes a sycophant, even those to whom he wishes to suck-up. And in your case those folks disdain your very existence (unless as I suspect you are lying about being gay, this being the internet after all).
2. There is a tradition of theater addressing social issues that goes back to Aristophenes and likely much further. The tradition of a cast addressing the audience apart from the play goes back to the start of the contemporary era.
3. Trump’s notion that art and artists are not intended to challenge, but to be light diversions is a notion common to autocrats, but almost never espoused by artists, critics, art lovers, intellectuals, lovers of democracy….
4. It is hilarious how the mean spirited bunch that natter on about progressives as “special snowflakes” always end up being the most special snowflakes at all: brittle minded and fragile, melting at the slightest provocation.
chris_clb614
“I just want to reassure people that what Donald Trump said on Election Night, he absolutely meant from the bottom of his heart.”
Going by some other of Trump’s actions and statements, there’s the old “actions speaking louder than words” thing.
dwes09
@Alistair Wiseman:
” Sending out a casting notice for “Non-White” actors is not exactly embracing your libral mantra about diversity.”
You really need to post links from actually unbiased sites, not those with extremist agendas. But it seems practically impossible for you to understand that, just as it is for you to understand the difference between empirical data and anecdote.
However, as the THEME of the show is the importance of immigrants and minorities in American history, and as the METHOD OF THE DIRECTOR to make the point is the use of non-traditional casting, the point of asking for non-whites to audition should be pretty obvious. Not to mention the overwhelming tendency in casting for parts not specified as minorities to default to white (meaning: lots of availible parts for whites in the theater, few for non-whites). OF COURSE this would be ignored by a person who in their bio (the author of the opinion piece you link to) refers to themselves using the code of the white supremacist/nationalist (and who has an obvious alt-right/white nationalist agenda). Is that really all above your head? Are you that dim??
Mo Bro
Who ever would’ve thought liberal actors were such noisy attention whores when it comes to their political causes?
(complete and total sarcasm intended)
dwes09
@Bob LaBlah: ” I hope his career doesn’t follow her’s but knowing how vindictive Trump is I think the guy should consider himself finished on Broadway once this shows inevitable end arrives.”
More and more people are just rolling their eyes at the tweets that Trump thoughtlessly (and foolishly) fires off. Those who attend theater, attend museums, read, think, visit other cities for cultural stimulation and so on are going to quickly grow weary of the prudishness and priggishness of the new administration.
Let’s not forget that opposing the Bush Administration policy furthered the career and album sales of the Dixie Chicks. I think a better example of history repeating itself is indicated by the fear elder German friends have expressed over the election of Trump and his subsequent actions.
flybyKnight
This situation reminds me of Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” outburst at Obama’s state of the union speech. At the time, I thought it to be incredibly rude, childish and inappropriate. I think the same thing is happening here. The Hamilton musical is rich with historical refernences and context. The actors should have the lyrics of the musical speak for themselves rather than attempting to embarrass the Vice President Elect in a forum he had no power to respond appropriately or intelligently in. Being called out from the top of a soapbox does not a discussion make!
dwes09
@Mo Bro: Which is more indicative of an attention whore:
a: the well thought out statement on the part of a cast addressing widely held fears over roll-back of social progress, delivered respectfully to one of the focuses of said fears?
b: the thoughtless, incorrect and arrogant tweets of a blowhard conman/developer turned autocrat?
No sarcasm here.
And as for performers being advocates for their political causes, they do it on both the right and the left. Perhaps they do it more on the left because it is easier to be proud and passionate about the desire to do good than about the desire to roll back social progress, reduce the life-options of others or outright oppress others. It is easy to be vocal about environmentalism or the desire for equal rights. It is a bit harder to be proudly vocal about wanting mothers in dangerous pregnancies to die, or about wanting more malnutrition in underprivileged children, or wanting fewer people to have access to healthcare.
dwes09
@flybyKnight: “This situation reminds me of Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” outburst at Obama’s state of the union speech.”
How odd, then they were not at all equivalent. You seem not to understand the difference between an audience member interrupting a formal address; and a cast, after a performance is over, soliciting response from an audience member. He had every opportunity to respond appropriately in print or broadcast media. To his credit, he understood their point and responded appropriately when the opportunity arose. Seems neither you nor trump understood and both responded childishly and with lack of understanding.
Brian
Brandon Dixon sounds extremely self-righteous. Beware of self-righteous black men.
Go to Africa and try to fix the homophobia problem over there, Brandon.
Brian
Oh, and look at the black music industry in the USA, Brandon. It’s extremely homophobic. You’ve got a lot of work to do, Brandon…in your own race.
jckfmsincty
Donald Trump is dangerously unfit to be POTUS. “When fascism comes to America, it will be wearing the flag and carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis
OzJosh
Wow. The comments on here certainly show how Trump has energised the bigots. Any reasonable person who watched the Hamilton speech would have to conclude it was a dignified and gracious call to uphold rights – entirely in keeping with the spirit of the show and the purest form of free speech within a democracy. To denounce it is to attack free speech, which, interestingly, is something Trump does repeatedly. HIs bullying tactics are generally aimed at silencing criticism, he’s already attempted to limit media coverage of his own activities, and he’s always making vague threats about curbing the media. This from a US president!
Terrycloth
If the cast had given pence or trump glowing review trump wouldn’t have said Hamilton was highly overrated.anyone who disagrees with Trump is a lowlife or a loser.someone should take his phone away or shut his Twitter account down..hey cheeto there are more important things worry about than a rap hip hop history play
Brian
It was rude to publicly single out Mike Pence. Brandon Dixon lacked manners in my view.
The lack of manners in the Left is mind-boggling. It has always been rude and obnoxious when it didn’t get its own way, but now it’s taken it to the theater.
The Left lacks manners, is bigoted, and threatens people who don’t agree with its entire list of demands. If you don’t agree with each and every single issue on its list of grievances, it labels you “the most horrible person in the world”.
Yes, the Left is bigoted. It forces male homosexual desire into tiny enclaves called the gay scene. Aren’t we good enough to be everywhere???? The Left needs to stop caging male homosexual desire.
Franklin
@Brian: Can you please keep our (black people’s) name out your mouth. Also, save your faux concern.
ErikO
@biggdaddysd: Very true. They went extremely low, but not as low as the Hillary supporters that fake hate crimes which are 99% of the ones that claim that they’ve now been the victim of hate speech or a hate crime since Donald Trump won the election in a landslide. Didn’t they think before they threw a public temper tantrum at the Vice President? I hope other people in the audience told the performers to STFU and get on with the musical that they had paid to watch.
mike_feldman
As Vice President Elect Mike Pence pointed out in response to this incident, the First Amendment gives one the right to speak what, where and when they wish.
That does not mean that time, place and manner of speech do not matter.
A Broadway actor on the stage has a professional duty to render his performance and to avoid interaction with any audience member.
Even when a patron is disruptive or unruly (which Pence certainly was not), the show must go on; let the theatre manager or theatre security deal with the patron.
For a patron who is doing nothing more than attending a play to be lectured to and harangued merely because he is an elected official attending a play is a breach of theatre ethics and etiquette.
The actor later defended his conduct saying he was having a “conversation” with Pence. There is no “conversation” evinced by the video; rather, only a one-sided diatribe by a man with a microphone up on a stage giving a pedantic soliloquy to an audience member who has no place or position to speak back.
If the actor wants to start a “conversation” he can appear on television, as he later did, request a meeting, or write in print or social media.
By the way, the initial casting call for Hamilton specified that only Non-White performers would be permitted to audition. They had to walk that back after an outrage. So much for diversity, unity, and inclusion!
When Hillary Clinton attended Hamilton, she was invited backstage and hugged.
What a hypocrisy!
Bob LaBlah
@dwes09: “Let’s not forget that opposing the Bush Administration policy furthered the career and album sales of the Dixie Chicks. I think a better example of history repeating itself is indicated by the fear elder German friends have expressed over the election of Trump and his subsequent actions.”
I agree but there are some details involving the girl group that you mentioned in your comment that Queerty is clearly not allowing me to comment about. Those girls more or less went into hiding and gave an interview in Central Park right at the foot of Harlem (on 110th street) to be safe. Its sad a gay website censors its commenters to the extent that this one does but this is to be expected.
ErikO
@Brian: Or he should try to fix the problem of homophobia/biphobia among black women and black men in North America first as there’s still a lot of that here. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was in the 70s and 80s but it’s still around and there are a lot of r a c ! s t and homophobic/biphobic white and asian gay men as well.
Bob LaBlah
@chris_clb614: “Going by some other of Trump’s actions and statements, there’s the old “actions speaking louder than words” thing.”
Laura Ingraham, his soon-to-be press secretary, was not only a speaker at the RNC convention but clearly gave a nazi salute that went ignored for the most part by the American mainstream. What does that tell you?
ErikO
@Bob LaBlah: I watched the video of her, she was pointing at someone in the crowd and it was not a Nazi salute at all.
Bob LaBlah
@ErikO: “I watched the video of her, she was pointing at someone in the crowd and it was not a Nazi salute at all.”
I swear many of you on here are so naive. But hey, as a white male who is suppose to be a cheerleader for these nazi’s disguised as Americans I strongly encourage all of you to stop wishing for a matching pair of bra and panties for Xmas and instead get a copy of a history book that goes into detail as to how not too long ago a nation of eighty million people were too blinded by the obvious. Deny it all you want it was what it was intended to be. Her “shock” is staged and you know it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACclN3UDrdo
flybyKnight
@mike_feldman: Well said! While I did not vote for Trump, he is now the President Elect by virtue of a system that has provided us most of our our previous 44 Presidents. Democrats chastizing the victor, the electoral process, and voters is horrifying to me. It was mere weeks ago Trump was reprimanded (and rightly so) for claiming the electoral process was “rigged”. Now I’m hearing the same rumblings coming from Democrats shortly after Clinton’s surprise defeat. I think Democrats should use the time between now and the inauguration to reflect on why Hillary Clinton who raised more money than anyone in US history for a presidential election, had virtually ALL worthwhile political endorsements, 3 flawlessly won debates and the incumbent POTUS’s fervent backing still lost in what looks like a decisive electoral victory for Trump. Racism, sexism, and xenophobia are certainly not the ONLY cause for Hillary’s defeat… millions of Democrats and Progressives stayed home, but why?
carllonghorn
It’s clear there are numerous people responding on here that are just baiting the site and don’t really identify with the content, at least that’s the only answer I can glean from their comments. This man did not write the speech; he just was the one reading it. The entire cast and director had input into it’s contents. And if you think a cast member reading a simple statement of concern at the end of a play is so offensive, you best get ready for the fireworks, because this is only the beginning. We cannot normalize any of what happened during the election; normalizing it will validate Trump/Pence hate speech as ok, and it is not. We need to call these people out at every opportunity to prove that they are working to unite this country and fix issues, not demonize people who have beliefs different from theirs. Mike Pence actively supports conversion therapy, in case anyone has forgotten that, and he tried to divert federal dollars for HIV meds in Indiana to pay for this therapy. That’s just the beginning. People are welcome to their own beliefs, but only to the extent they don’t tramp on others rights. We are long past being polite here. I know there were some in the LGBT community who voted for Trump (or at least there seems to be on this site), but for the life of me, unless you are some self-loathing man or woman, I am not sure how you got to that point. Both of these men and their party hate us, want us to change, or it not that, be gone.
airh0ps77
@@Brian @ErikO …maybe you should focus of fixing the racism in the white LGBT community before speaking out about black individuals fixing an issue in the black community…
Alistair Wiseman
@Bob LaBlah:
Bob, you are like a broken record. This is at least the third time you have posted this same video of Laura Ingraham waving to the audience.
I gave you repeated pictures of Hillary doing the exact same thing.
Why is Tim Kaine giving the same exact “Nazi salute” on the cover of his book with Hillary Clinton? I asked you this before – nothing.
Bob, you are smarter than this.
Ksb1978
So many white gay tears in these comments.
Bob LaBlah
@Ksb1978: “Bob, you are like a broken record.”
Just keep in mind a broken clock (yes, I know you said record) is correct twice a day.
Bob LaBlah
@Alistair Wiseman:“Bob, you are like a broken record.”
Just keep in mind a broken clock (yes, I know you said record) is correct twice a day.
Bob LaBlah
@Ksb1978: Sorry about that. I was replying to Alistair and clicked on your comment by accident.
dwes09
@Brian: “Brandon Dixon sounds extremely self-righteous. Beware of self-righteous black men.
Go to Africa and try to fix the homophobia problem over there, Brandon.”
And you, with your distaste for gay men, hatred for women, and baseless pronouncements about everything that irritates your self-absorbed little world are not self-righteous!? You hate everything that characterizes gay culture, you hate yourself, and nobody but maybe two or three people here have even the tiniest bit of respect for you. Makes me wonder why you even come here if not to indulge your own self image problems.
In case you have any inkling of reality: Dixon made his comments because it makes sense to fight the battles that directly affect you. You clearly do not care about the undermining of gay rights and minority rights that is likely to happen under Trump, but people with brains do.
dwes09
@OzJosh: ” Any reasonable person who watched the Hamilton speech would have to conclude it was a dignified and gracious call to uphold rights ”
The likelihood is that they didn’t watch it. At least one regressive commenting here seemed to think the statement was made in the midst of the production! They don’t watch videos of actual events, they don’t read primary sources. They rely on predigested comments from their right wing manipulator sites, and they rely on the things that bubble up from their imagination.
So when someone who does not seem to attend the theater claims Hamilton is “overrated” and that they cannot memorize their lines, they believe it despite the latter statement being false, and the musical having received awards and critical acclaim. Remember that the overwhelming bulk of the fake news that circulates in the internet is right wing. That tells you something about their critical faculties.
Kangol
@dwes09: Exactly. Brandon Victor Dixon is dreamy too. I miss Leslie Odom from the original cast, though.
dwes09
@mike_feldman: By the way, the initial casting call for Hamilton specified that only Non-White performers would be permitted to audition.
No, that was a secondary casting call, but don’t let reality interfere with your imagination. And the script in this production specifically called for non-white cast members. Additionally (and in case you had not noticed) the overwhelming default in theater if ethnicity is not specified is white. And through much of American theater history, even roles of non-white characters were played by whites. So take your fake outrage and (as Shakespeare would say) “screw it to the sticking place”. You make me ashamed to be a Jew; so,so deep is your ignorance!
dwes09
@carllonghorn: “I know there were some in the LGBT community who voted for Trump (or at least there seems to be on this site), but for the life of me, unless you are some self-loathing man or woman, I am not sure how you got to that point.”
It did renew faith somewhat that many fewer gay men and women voted for Trump than have supported other republican candidates in the past. And rest assured that many of those who did will regret it before the next four years are over.
Alistair Wiseman
@Bob LaBlah:
But you aren’t correct in the slightest.
Laura Ingraham has written a handful of books, has her own radio show and makes numerous television appearances, you should be able to provide a video clip or something that she has written to prove the rubbish you have asserted.
You may be seeing more of Ms. Ingraham as she may become the new White House Press Secretary.
Mo Bro
Liberals prove yet again that they’re the sorest of losers.
John
I think it was the wrong venue to “preach” to the Vice President elect. If I had been in the audience and paid that much for a ticket I would have requested a refund. I don’t go to movies, theater or concerts to hear the performers voice their political opinions, I pay to be entertained and forget about the nastiness for a couple of hours. I went to see Vanessa Williams this summer and she took the high road when the douche of a piano player tried to inject his politics (go Hillary), Vanessa didn’t bite and we t on without expressing good, bad or indifferent…loved it. Just because you have the stage does not mean people want to hear your drivel.
Would this actor have given the same speech to Tim Kaine had he and Hillary won? There would have been aprox 50% of the country who would have felt the same way about those two? If the answer is no, then he should have kept his mouth shut.
Stilinski26
I don’t like Mike Pence at all but he wasn’t offended at all he said they had the right to protest and he was’nt offended at all seemed like he didn’t care at all but he does seem emotionless man anyway.
money718
What a dummy. Trump is probably the only person blocking the right-wingers from going crazy. Yet you want to embarrass his VP?
Pax
@He BGB:
@He BGB “Shouldnt(sic) it be whom he feels harrassed'(sic) instead of who he feels…”
No. It’s the relative pronoun “who” here. It would have been “whom” if the sentence said, “…whom he harassed (delete direct object MP here).”
Send me your e-mail and I’ll explain it further if you like, otherwise, look at one of this sites:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/645/01/
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clauses-2.html