Actor Robert De Niro on Tuesday tried to mobilize his fellow film industry colleagues at the Cannes film festival against Donald Trump’s assault on the arts.
During an acceptance speech for an honorary Palme d’Or, the actor said the United States is “fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted.” De Niro touted the arts as “a threat to autocrats and fascists” and slammed Trump’s cuts to arts programs — like his termination of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and his takeover of the Kennedy Center.
“America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions,” De Niro told the audience, adding that Trump “has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education, and now he has announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside the U.S.,” which De Niro argued is a global problem more than an American one.
Watch an excerpt of the speech here:
The Trump administration has stripped funding from many libraries and museums nationwide and has ordered the Smithsonian to “remove improper ideology” from its exhibits, like the one at the National Museum of African American History and Culture that highlights the history of scientific racism. As part of Trump’s effort to eliminate the NEA, his administration has sent hundreds of letters to organizations around the country terminating their grants because they don’t “reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage.”
A local New York news outlet, The City, for example, reports that Trump’s NEA cuts are having a widespread impact on the arts scene and industries, which draw tourists from all around the world:
All kinds and all sizes of arts organizations contributing to the city’s cultural life were affected by the NEA’s recent termination letters: dance and theater companies working with acclaimed and up-and-coming artists to produce new and historic performing arts works; music conservancies that teach children; ballet and opera companies; groups that put on annual dance, music and film festivals; literary magazines and small publishers; museums and galleries.
The Classical Theater of Harlem is among the many organizations that have been hurt, and the theater’s leader, actor Ty Jones, has been sounding the alarm in recent news interviews.
Last week, the Creative Coalition — a group of actors, producers, directors and other professionals from the entertainment world — released a statement calling Trump’s termination of the grants a “shortsighted” move with far-reaching ramifications: The move to cancel National Endowment for the Arts grants is shortsighted. It hurts the communities where the funds would have been invested. It denies access to the arts to thousands of Americans, including students in rural communities, veterans who heal from arts therapy and seniors who enjoy local arts festivals. We have seen over and over that a thriving arts scene brings together people from all walks of life, promotes critical thinking and emotional expression, and helps to build a more tolerant society.
To that point, NBC News 5 in Dallas-Fort Worth reported on the various programs under threat in North Texas as a result of Trump’s slashing of the NEA, including a program that provides free school supplies to K-8 teachers. The benefits of federal arts funding are well known and felt in ways many people may not realize. For example, the recently released documentary “We Want the Funk” takes time to explain that some of the most accomplished musicians in American history — from Prince to the Ohio Players — have been beneficiaries of federally funded school music programs like those Trump is putting under threat. The arts are one of the United States’ greatest exports and worthy of investment. It would be a travesty to allow Trump — a reality TV star with questionable acting chops, to say the least — to be only the one who decides what the American arts scene looks like.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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