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Cockburn is a cultured character with a longstanding fondness of the high arts. He was therefore amused to read an open letter, titled “The Kennedy Center Boycott and Its Impact on Artists” from the Orchestra Committee of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera Orchestra, in a recent issue of International Musician. The letter effectively amounts to classical musicians pleading with liberal patrons to attend Kennedy Center shows – despite President Trump’s overhauling of the institution. “While we respect every patron’s right to personal expression, withdrawing from beloved music as an act of protest is a shortsighted response that hurts the very artists who make that art possible,” the committee writes. They also seek to clarify that ticket sales for NSO and WNO shows “support only that group,” rather than going to the Kencen’s coffers.
“The Kennedy Center is our home… To suggest we could simply move ignores logistical, financial, and artistic realities – and the deep roots we have in this community,” the letter continues. “The current boycott doesn’t just endanger an institution; it endangers the living ecosystem of artists, who dedicate their lives to creating beauty, joy, and connection, and of audiences, who seek community and connection through art.”
Cockburn has his own advice for classical musical enthusiasts who are refusing to attend “the Trump-Kennedy Center“: separate the art from the artist! You can enjoy Parsifal while ignoring how Wagner was a 19th-century Nick Fuentes. There is no need to withhold this weekend’s showing of The Little Prince from your family because “Orange Man Bad.” And speaking as a long-time Washington resident… the renovations to the center were long overdue.
A life well Livvy’d
According to NPDBookScan, which tracks sales numbers, Olivia Nuzzi’s tell-all memoir American Canto sold 1,165 hardcover copies in its first week. Cockburn’s first reaction, upon hearing those numbers, was “hey, that’s not bad at all,” but he supposes everything is relative. According to a “publishing insider,” this book is a “publishing debacle of epic proportions.” Cockburn guesses that advance must have been huge.
Even though everyone Cockburn knows (and he knows a lot of people) has been gossiping in the last month about Nuzzi’s affairs with RFK Jr. and Mark Sanford, and ex-boyfriend Ryan Lizza’s scabrous online posts about her, that the world at large, frankly, just doesn’t give a hoot about these media clowns and their As The World Turns personal lives. Meanwhile word is out that Nuzzi has lost her gig at Vanity Fair. And we’re assuming her sales numbers mean there won’t be an American Canto movie, or an American Canto 2: The Cantoing.
A cornucopia of Christmas parties
Cockburn snuck in late to the Aspen Institute Philosophy Society holiday party at Reynold’s in Dupont Circle Wednesday. The organizers held a panel discussion to celebrate the release of Osita Nwanevu’s new book, The Right of The People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding. The discussion centered around the idea of holding a second constitutional convention. If the parties were to agree on implementing Osita’s proposal, they might never agree on anything again or envision a revelatory political document the likes of which we have not seen since 1787.
An earl-gray gin drink called “the Boston Tea Party” was drawn from the same kind of themed drink menu that has plagued DC this year. Cockburn regretted ordering it on the first sip. Every event has a list of signature cocktails and the names are always more satisfying than the libations themselves. Hosts might save the trouble and the cardstock, stick to an (entirely) open bar and make their guests just as happy. In fact, those of us mastering the art of ordering top-shelf liquor on another institution’s dime might appreciate the opportunity to practice.
In the spirit of Christmas, Cockburn was accused of trying to swipe Osita’s book, which he did get signed by the author and can’t wait to read. Our consummate gossip columnist, despite his appetite for mischief, would never steal a book – hearts only – he simply assumed they were free.
Spotted: Shadi Hamid, Damir Marusic, Kelly Chapman, Osita Nwanevu, Christine Emba, Sophia Morales, Sarah Beth Spraggins, Ranna Kisswani, Mana Afsari, Melissa Flashman, Daphne Banks, Luis Parrales and Samuel Kimbriel.
The most hyped Christmas shindig in DC was George Santos’s “Santos Claus” party Tuesday. But Cockburn’s spies tell him the event itself was standard fare. “It was actually a pretty normal party, with lots of the expected conservative people,” one attendee told Cockburn. The bash was hosted at Butterworth’s – the MAGA haunt has a booking virtually every night of the first two weeks of December. Another tipster says it was “impossible to get in if you weren’t on the list,” describing two checks at the top and bottom of the stairs. Members of the Fed board and, per TMZ, Lauren Boebert staffers, didn’t make the cut. A small but vocal group of protesters occupied the street outside, as is their wont. Upstairs, meanwhile, guests could treat themselves to “Santos Claus” cookies, “Free Ryan Salame” drink stirrers (the FTX CEO is in federal prison for campaign finance violations and goodie bags. There was also a photo booth where attendees could pose in front of a banner bearing the logos of the event sponsors, including the Gateway Pundit. The guest list, however, was star-studded by DC standards: Representatives Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett, Rich McCormick and Beth Van Duyne; Kari Lake; Monica Crowley; Martin Shkreli; Anna Delvey (less a “who’s-who,” more a “whose identity have you stolen?”); Leah McSweeney; Kim Klacik; Scott Presler; Meghan McCain; Nomiki Konst, and Vanessa Santos.
A comrade of Cockburn’s declared Meta’s bash at the newly opened Goodlove Lounge the most fun so far. Guests included former rapid-response director Andrew Bates, who was “way more relaxed than when he was at the Biden White House.”
At Qatar’s festivities at the National Building Museum, Ambassador Sheikh Meshal Bin Hamad al-Thani was swanning around surrounded by a full security retinue – presumably to shield him from another mean Ted Cruz tweet. The night before, the museum hosted the American Principles Project gala, which a source declared “the hottest party I’ve seen so far this season.” (Cockburn was not considered principled enough to score an invite.) The source describes “insanely well-stocked bars with high-end stuff, a 650-or-so-strong crowd of congressmembers and top MAGA people. Party bags included an official White House Christmas Ornament – a nice and expensive touch!” Delvey was also spotted here, at a table with Butterworth’s bon vivant Raheem Kassam, the State Department’s Gavin Wax and the Kennedy Center’s Roma Daravi:
Your correspondent is currently in recovery from a swanky Christmas dinner at the aforementioned restaurant hosted by Harry Cole, of “Saving the West” fame. The Bandol and Piper Heidseck flowed freely and the food was delectable as ever. In attendance: Kara and Nick Clairmont; Madeline Fry Schulz; Victoria Hudson-Grant; Jon Levine; Sarakshi Rai; Tim Rice; Ed Roman; Tom Rogan; Sarah Selip and Connor Stringer.
Ever in the habit of being in two places at once, he also took in a big-name-heavy Encounter Books-New Criterion party up in the Big Apple – where attendees included: Steve Forbes; Matthew Gasda; Anna Khachiyan; Roger Kimball; Melanie Phillips; Sam Schneider, and Taki Theodoracopoulos.
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